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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/daltonscompletebOOdalt 



Dalton's 
Complete Bridge 






By W. Dalton 

Author of 

Bridge Abridged, or Practical Bridge/' 
" Bridge at a Glance " 



New York 

Frederick A. Stokes Company 

Publishers 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two Conies Received 

JUN 12 1906 

~) Copyright Entry - 
C CLASS Jf J&CjJ*. 



COPY 



J 






Copyright, 1906, by 
Frederick A. Stokes Company 






CONTENTS 



Chap. 
I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 
XIII. 
XIV. 

XV. 



Page 

The Laws of Bridge 1 

The Evolution op Bridge 35 

The Declaration— No Trumps .... 52 

Attacking Suit Declarations .... 76 

Defensive Suit Declarations by the 

Dealer 92 

The Declaration on a Passed Hand . . 101 

The Declaration to the Score .... no 

Doubling 122 

The Original Lead against a No Trump 

Declaration 141 

The Opening Lead against a Suit Decla- 
ration ' i 6 3 

The Play of the Third Hand in a No 

Trump Game 181 

The Play of the Third Hand against a 

Suit Declaration 215 

The Defender's Play as Second Hand . 235 

The Discard 240 

The Play of the Dealer 256 

Practice versus Theory 302 



THE LAWS OF BEIDGE 

WHICH CAME INTO FORCE JANUARY 1, 1905 

AS REVISED BY A JOINT COMMITTEE OF 
THE PORTLAND AND TURF CLUB 1 

THE RUBBER 

1. The Kubber is the best of three games. If 
the first two games be won by the same players, the 
third game is not played. 

SCORING 

2. A game consists of thirty points obtained by 
tricks alone, exclusive of any points counted for 
Honours, Chicane, or Slam. 

3. Every hand is played out, and any points in 
excess of the thirty points necessary for the game 
are counted. 

4. Each trick above six counts two points when 
spades are trumps, four points when clubs are 
trumps, six points when diamonds are trumps, 

1 Printed by kind permission of Thomas de la Rue & 
Co., Ltd., London. 

1 1 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

eight points when hearts are trumps, and twelve 
points when there are no trumps. 

5. Honours consist of ace, king, queen, knave, 
and ten of the trump suit. "When there are no 
trumps they consist of the four aces. 

6. Honours in trumps are thus reckoned : — 
If a player and his partner conjointly hold — 

I. The five honours of the trump suit, they score for 
honours five times the value of the trump suit 
trick. 
II. Any four honours of the trump suit, they score for 
honours four times the value of the trump suit 
trick. 
III. Any three honours of the trump suit, they score 
for honours twice the value of the trump suit 
trick. 

If a player in his own hand holds — 

I. The five honours of the trump suit, he and his 
partner score for honours ten times the value of 
the trump suit trick. 
II. Any four honours of the trump £uit, they score for 
honours eight times the value of the trump suit 
trick. In this last case, if the player's partner 
holds the fifth honour, they also score for hon- 
ours the single value of the trump suit trick. 

The value of the trump suit trick referred to in 
this law is its original value — e. g., two points in 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

spades and six points in diamonds ; and the value 
of honours is in no way affected by any doubling 
or re-doubling that may take place under Laws 
53-60. 

7. Honours, when there are no trumps, are thus 
reckoned : — 

If a player and his partner conjointly hold — 

I. The four aces, they score for honours forty points. 
II. Any three aces, they score for honours thirty points. 

If a player in his own hand holds — 

The four aces, he and his partner score for honours one 
hundred points. 

8. Chicane is thus reckoned : — 

If a player holds no trump, he and his partner score for 
Chicane twice the value of the trump suit trick. The 
value of Chicane is in no way affected by any doubling 
or re-doubling that may take place under Laws 53-60. 

9. Slam is thus reckoned: — 

If a player and his partner make, independently 
of any tricks taken for the revoke penalty — 

I. All thirteen tricks, they score for Grand Slam iorty 
points. 

II. Twelve tricks, they score for Little Slam twenty 

points. 

3 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

10. Honours, Chicane, and Slam are reckoned 
in the score at the end of the rubber. 

11. At the end of the rubber, the total scores 
for tricks, Honours, Chicane, and Slam obtained 
by each player and his partner are added up, one 
hundred points are added to the score of the win- 
ners of the rubber, and the difference between the 
two scores is the number of points won, or lost, by 
the winners of the rubber. 

12. If an erroneous score affecting tricks be 
proved, such mistake may be corrected prior to 
the conclusion of the game in which it occurred, 
and such game is not concluded until the last card 
of the following deal has been dealt, or, in the case 
of the last game of the rubber, until the score has 
been made up and agreed. 

13. If an erroneous score affecting Honours, 
Chicane, or Slam be proved, such mistake may be 
corrected at any time before the score of the rub- 
ber has been made up and agreed. 

CUTTING 

14. The ace is the lowest card. 

15. In all cases, every player must cut from the 
same pack. 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

16. Should a player expose more than one card, 
he must cut again. 

FORMATION OF TABLE 

17. If there are more than four candidates, the 
players are selected by cutting, those first in the 
room having the preference. The four who cut 
the lowest cards play first, and again cut to decide 
on partners; the two lowest play against the two 
highest; the lowest is the dealer, who has choice 
of cards and seats, and, having once made his 
selection, must abide by it. 

18. When there are more than six candidates, 
those who cut the two next lowest cards belong to 
the table, which is complete with six players; on 
the retirement of one of those six players, the can- 
didate who cut the next lowest card has a prior 
right to any after-comer to enter the table. 

19. Two players cutting cards of equal value, 
unless such cards are the two highest, cut again; 
should they be the two lowest, a fresh cut is neces- 
sary to decide which of those two deals. 

20. Three players cutting cards of equal value 

cut again; should the fourth (or remaining) card 

5 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

be the highest, the two lowest of the new cut are 
partners, the lower of those two the dealer ; should 
the fourth card be the lowest, the two highest are 
partners, the original lowest the dealer. 

CUTTING OUT 

21. At the end of a rubber, should admission 
be claimed by any one, or by two candidates, 
he who has, or they who have, played a greater 
number of consecutive rubbers than the others 
is, or are, out ; but when all have played the same 
number, they must cut to decide upon the out- 
goers; the highest are out. 

ENTRY AND RE-ENTRY 

22. A candidate, whether he has played or not, 
can join a table which is not complete by declaring 
in at any time prior to any of the players having 
cut a card, either for the purpose of commencing 
a fresh rubber or of cutting out. 

23. In the formation of fresh tables, those can- 
didates who have neither belonged to nor played at 
any other table have the prior right of entry ; the 
others decide their right of admission by cutting. 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

24. Any one quitting a table prior to the con- 
clusion of a rubber, may, with consent of the other 
three players, appoint a substitute in his absence 
during that rubber. 

25. A player joining one table, whilst belonging 
to another, loses his right of re-entry into the latter, 
and takes his chance of cutting in, as if he were 
a fresh candidate. 

26. If any one break up a table, the remaining 
players have the prior right to him of entry into 
any other; and should there not be sufficient 
vacancies at such other table to admit all those 
candidates, they settle their precedence by cutting. 

SHUFFLING 

27. The pack must neither be shuffled below 
the table nor so that the face of any card be seen. 

28. The pack must not be shuffled during the 
play of the hand. 

29. A pack, having been played with, must 
neither be shuffled by dealing it into packets, nor 
across the table. 

30. Each player has a right to shuffle once 
only (except as provided by Law 33) prior to a 

7. 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

deal, after a false cut, or when a new deal has 
occurred. 

31. The dealer's partner must collect the cards 
for the ensuing deal, and has the first right to 
shuffle that pack. 

32. Each player, after shuffling, must place the 
cards, properly collected and face downwards, to 
the left of the player about to deal. 

33. The dealer has always the right to shuffle 
last; hut should a card or cards be seen during 
his shuffling, or whilst giving the pack to be cut, 
he may be compelled to re-shuffle. 

THE DEAL 

34. Each player deals in his turn; the order 
of dealing goes to the left. 

35. The player on the dealer's right cuts the 

pack, and, in dividing it, must not leave fewer 

than four cards in either packet; if in cutting, 

or in replacing one of the two packets on the other, 

a card be exposed, or if there be any confusion 

of the cards, or a doubt as to the exact place in 

which the pack was divided, there must be a fresh 

cut. 

S 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

36. "When a player, whose duty it is to cut, has 
once separated the pack, he cannot alter his in- 
tention; he can neither re-shuffle nor re-cut the 
cards. 

37. When the pack is cut, should the dealer 
shuffle the cards, the pack must be cut again. 

38. The fifty-two cards shall be dealt face down- 
wards. The deal is not completed until the last 
card has been dealt face downwards. There is no 
misdeal. 

A NEW DEAL 

39. There must be a new deal — 

I. If, during a deal, or during the play of a hand, the 
pack be proved to be incorrect or imperfect. 
II. If any card be faced in the pack. 

III. Unless the cards are dealt into four packets, one at 

a time and in regular rotation, beginning at the 
player to the dealer's left. 

IV. Should the last card not come in its regular order to 

the dealer. 
V. Should a player have more than thirteen cards, and 
any one or more of the others less than thirteen 
cards. 
VI. Should the dealer deal two cards at once, or two 
cards to the same hand, and then deal a third; 
but if, prior to dealing that card, the dealer can, 
by altering the position of one card only, rectify 
such error, he may do so. 
9 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

VII. Should the dealer omit to have the pack cut to him, 
and the adversaries discover the error prior to the 
last card being dealt, and before looking at their 
cards; but not after having done so. 

40. If, whilst dealing, a card be exposed by 
either of the dealer's adversaries, the dealer or his 
partner may claim a new deal. A card similarly 
exposed by the dealer or his partner gives the same 
claim to each adversary. The claim may not be 
made by a player who has looked at any of his 
cards. If a new deal does not take place, the ex- 
posed card cannot be called. 

41. If, in dealing, one of the last cards be ex- 
posed, and the dealer completes the deal before 
there is reasonable time to decide as to a fresh deal, 
the privilege is not thereby lost. 

42. If the dealer, before he has dealt fifty-one 
cards, look at any card, his adversaries have a 
right to see it, and may exact a new deal. 

43. Should three players have their right num- 
ber of cards — the fourth have less than thirteen, 
and not discover such deficiency until he has 
played any of his cards, the deal stands good; 
should he have played, he is as answerable for any 

revoke he may have made as if the missing card, 

10 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

or cards, had been in his hand ; he may search the 
other pack for it, or them. 

44. If a pack, during or after a rubber, be 
proved incorrect or imperfect, such proof does not 
alter any past score, game, or rubber ; that hand in 
which the imperfection was detected is null and 
void; the dealer deals again. 

45. Any one dealing out of turn, or with the 
adversary's cards, may be stopped before the last 
card is dealt, otherwise the deal stands good, and 
the game must proceed as if no mistake had been 
made. 

46. A player can neither shuffle, cut, nor deal 
for his partner without the permission of his 
opponents. 

DECLARING TRTTMPS 

47. The dealer, having examined his hand, has 
the option of declaring what suit shall be trumps, 
or whether the hand shall be played without 
trumps. If he exercise that option, he shall do so 
by naming the suit, or by saying " No trumps." 

48. If the dealer does not wish to exercise his 
option, he may pass it to his partner by saying, " I 

11 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

leave it to you, Partner/' and his partner must 
thereupon make the necessary declaration, in the 
manner provided in the preceding law. 

49. If the dealer's partner make the trump 
declaration without receiving permission from the 
dealer, the eldest hand may demand — 

I. That the declaration so made shall stand. 
II. That there shall be a new deal. 

But if any declaration as to doubling or not dou- 
bling shall have been made, or if a new deal is not 
claimed, the declaration wrongly made shall stand. 
The eldest hand is the player on the left of the 
dealer. 

50. If the dealer's partner pass the declaration 
to the dealer, the eldest hand may demand — 

I. That there shall be a new deal. 
II. That the dealer's partner shall himself make the 
declaration. 

51. If either of the dealer's adversaries make 
the declaration, the dealer may, after looking at 
his hand, either claim a fresh deal or proceed as 
if no such declaration had been made. 

52. A declaration once made cannot be altered, 

save as provided above. 

12 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

DOUBLING AND BE-DOUBLING 

53. The effect of doubling and re-doubling, and 
so on, is that the value of each trick above six is 
doubled, quadrupled, and so on. 

54. After the trump declaration has been made 
by the dealer or his partner, their adversaries have 
the right to double. The eldest hand has the first 
right. If he does not wish to double, he shall say 
to his partner, " May I lead ? " His partner shall 
answer " Yes," or " I double." 

55. If either of their adversaries elect to double, 
the dealer and his partner have the right to re- 
double. The player who has declared the trump 
shall have the first right. He may say " I re- 
double," or " Satisfied." Should he say the latter, 
his partner may re-double. 

56. If the dealer or his partner elect to re- 
double, their adversaries shall have the right to 
again double. The original doubler has the first 
right. 

57. If the right-hand adversary of the dealer 

double before his partner has asked " May I 

lead ? " the declarer of the trump shall have the 

13 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

right to say whether or not the double shall stand. 
If he decide that the double shall stand, the pro- 
cess of re-doubling may continue as described in 
Laws 55, 56, 58. 

58. The process of re-doubling may be contin- 
ued until the limit of 100 points is reached — the 
first right to continue the re-doubling on behalf of 
a partnership belonging to that player who has last 
re-doubled. Should he, however, express himself 
satisfied, the right to continue the re-doubling 
passes to his partner. Should any player re- 
double out of turn, the adversary who last doubled 
shall decide whether or not such double shall stand. 
If it is decided that the re-double shall stand, the 
process of re-doubling may continue as described 
in this and foregoing laws (55 and 56). If any 
double or re-double out of turn be not accepted 
there shall be no further doubling in that hand. 
Any consultation between partners as to doubling 
or re-doubling will entitle the maker of the trump 
or the eldest hand, without consultation, to a new 
deal. 
'■ 59. If the eldest hand lead before the doubling 

be completed, his partner may re-double only with 

14 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

the consent of the adversary who last doubled; 
but such lead shall not affect the right of either 
adversary to double. 

60. When the question, " May I lead ? " has 
been answered in the affirmative, or when the 
player who has the last right to continue the 
doubling expresses himself satisfied, the play shall 
begin. 

61. A declaration once made cannot be altered. 



DUMMY 

62. As soon as a card is led, whether in or out of 
turn, the dealer's partner shall place his cards face 
upwards on the table, and the duty of playing the 
cards from that hand, which is called Dummy, and 
of claiming and enforcing any penalties arising 
during the hand, shall devolve upon the dealer, 
unassisted by his partner. 

63. After exposing Dummy, the dealer's part- 
ner has no part whatever in the game, except that 
he has the right to ask the dealer if he has none of 
the suit in which he may have renounced. If he 
call attention to any other incident in the play of 

the hand, in respect of which any penalty might 

15 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

be exacted, the fact that he has done so shall 
deprive the dealer of the right of exacting such 
penalty against his adversaries. 

64. If the dealer's partner, by touching a card, 
or otherwise, suggest the play of a card from 
Dummy, either of the adversaries may, but without 
consulting with his partner, call upon the dealer 
to play or not to play the card suggested. 

65. When the dealer draws a card, either from 
his own hand or from Dummy, such card is not 
considered as played until actually quitted. 

66. A card once played, or named by the dealer 
as to be played from his own hand or from 
Dummy, cannot be taken back, except to save a 
revoke. 

67. The dealer's partner may not look over his 
adversaries' hands, nor leave his seat for the pur- 
pose of watching his partner's play. 

68. Dummy is not liable to any penalty for a 
revoke, as his adversaries see his cards. Should he 
revoke, and the error not be discovered until the 
trick is turned and quitted, the trick stands good. 

69. Dummy being blind and deaf, his partner is 

not liable to any penalty for an error whence he 

16 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

can gain no advantage. Thus, he may expose 
some, or all of his. cards, without incurring any 
penalty. 

EXPOSED CARDS 

70. If after the deal has been completed, and 
before the trump declaration has been made, either 
the dealer or his partner expose a card from his 
hand, the eldest hand may claim a new deal. 

71. If after the deal has been completed, and 
before a card is led, any player shall expose a card, 
his partner shall forfeit any right to double or 
re-double which he would otherwise have been en- 
titled to exercise ; and in the case of a card being 
so exposed by the leader's partner, the dealer may, 
instead of calling the card, require the leader not 
to lead the suit of the exposed card. 

CAEDS LIABLE TO BE CALLED 

72. All cards exposed by the dealer's adversaries 
are liable to be called, and must be left face up- 
wards on the table; but a card is not an exposed 
card when dropped on the floor, or elsewhere below 
the table. 

2 17 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

73. The following are exposed cards : — 

I. Two or more cards played at once. 
II. Any card dropped with its face upwards, or in any 
way exposed on or above the table, even though 
snatched up so quickly that no one can name it. 

74. If either of the dealer's adversaries play to 
an imperfect trick the best card on the table, or 
lead one which is a winning card as against the 
dealer and his partner, and then lead again, with- 
out waiting for his partner to play, or play several 
such winning cards, one after the other, without 
waiting for his partner to play, the latter may be 
called on to win, if he can, the first or any other of 
those tricks, and the other cards thus improperly 
played are exposed cards. 

75. Should the dealer indicate that all or any 
of the remaining tricks are his, he may be required 
to place his cards face upwards on the table; but 
they are not liable to be called. 

76. If either of the dealer's adversaries throw 
his cards on the table face upwards, such cards are 
exposed, and liable to be called by the dealer. 

77. If all the players throw their cards on the 

table face upwards, the hands are abandoned, and 

18 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

the score must be left as claimed and admitted. 
The hands may be examined for the purpose of 
establishing a revoke, but for no other purpose. 

78. A card detached from the rest of the hand 
of either of the dealer's adversaries, so as to be 
named, is liable to be called ; but should the dealer 
name a wrong card, he is liable to have a suit called 
when first he or his partner have the lead. 

79. If a player, who has rendered himself liable 
to have the highest or lowest of a suit called, or 
to win or not to win a trick, fail to play as desired, 
though able to do so, or if when called on to lead 
one 'suit, lead another, having in his hand one or 
more cards of that suit demanded, he incurs the 
penalty of a revoke. 

80. If either of the dealer's adversaries lead 
out of turn, the dealer may call a suit from him 
or his partner when it is next the turn of either of 
them to lead, or may call the card erroneously led. 

81. If the dealer lead out of turn, either from 
his own hand or from Dummy, he incurs no 
penalty ; but he may not rectify the error after the 
second hand has played. 

82. If any player lead out of turn, and the other 

19 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

three have followed him, the trick is complete, and 
the error cannot be rectified; but if only the 
second, or the second and third, have played to the 
false lead, their cards, on discovery of the mistake, 
are taken back; and there is no penalty against 
any one, excepting the original offender, and then 
only when he is one of the dealer's adversaries. 

83. In no case can a player be compelled to play 
a card which would oblige him to revoke. 

84. The call of a card may be repeated until 
such card has been played. 

85. If a player called on to lead a suit have 
none of it, the penalty is paid. 

CARDS PLAYED IN ERROR, OR NOT PLATED 
TO A TRICK 

86. Should the third hand not have played, 
and the fourth play before his partner, the latter 
(not being Dummy or his partner) may be called 
on to win, or not to win, the trick. 

87. If any one (not being Dummy) omit play- 
ing to a former trick, and such error be not 
discovered until he has played to the next, the 

adversaries may claim a new deal; should they 

20 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

decide that the deal stand good, or should Dummy 
have omitted to play to a former trick, and such 
error be not discovered till he shall have played to 
the next, the surplus card at the end of the hand is 
considered to have been played to the imperfect 
trick, but does not constitute a revoke therein. 

88. If any one play two cards to the same trick, 
or mix a card with a trick to which it does not 
properly belong, and the mistake be not discov- 
ered until the hand is played out, he (not being 
Dummy) is answerable for all consequent revokes 
he may have made. If, during the play of the 
hand, the error be detected, the tricks may be 
counted face downwards, in order to ascertain 
whether there be among them a card too many: 
should this be the case they may be searched, and 
the card restored ; the player (not being Dummy) 
is, however, liable for all revokes which he may 
have meanwhile made. 

THE REVOKE 

89. Is when a player (other than Dummy), 

holding one or more cards of the suit led, plays a 

card of a different suit. 

21 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

90. The penalty for a revoke — 

I. Is at the option of the adversaries, who, at the end 
of the hand, may, after consultation, either take 
three tricks from the revoking player and add 
them to their own — or deduct the value of three 
tricks from his existing score — or add the value 
of three tricks to their own score; 
II. Can be claimed for as many revokes as occur during 
the hand; 

III. Is applicable only to the score of the game in which 

it occurs; 

IV. Cannot be divided — i.e., a player cannot add the 

value of one or two tricks to his own score and 
deduct the value of one or two from the revoking 
player. 
V. In whatever way the penalty may be enforced, under 
no circumstances can the side revoking score Game, 
Grand Slam, or Little Slam, that hand. Whatever 
their previous score may be, the side revoking can- 
not attain a higher score towards the game than 
twenty-eight. 

91. A revoke is established, if the trick in which 
it occur be turned and quitted — i. e., the hand re- 
moved from that trick after it has been turned face 
downwards on the table — or if either the revoking 
player or his partner, whether in his right turn or 
otherwise, lead or play to the following trick. 

92. A player may ask his partner whether he 
has not a card of the suit which he has renounced ; 

22 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

should the question be asked before the trick is 
turned and quitted, subsequent turning and quit- 
ting does not establish the revoke, and the error 
may be corrected, uuless the question be answered 
in the negative, or unless the revoking player or his 
partner have led or played to the following trick. 

93. At the end of the hand, the claimants of a 
revoke may search all the tricks. 

94. If a player discover his mistake in time to 
save a revoke, any player or players who have 
played after him may withdraw their cards and 
substitute others, and their cards withdrawn are 
not liable to be called. If the player in fault be 
one of the dealer's adversaries, the dealer may 
call the card thus played in error, or may require 
him to play his highest or lowest card to that trick 
in which he has renounced. 

95. If the player in fault be the dealer, the 
eldest hand may require him to play the highest or 
lowest card of the suit in which he has renounced, 
provided both of the dealer's adversaries have 
played to the current trick; but this penalty can- 
not be exacted from the dealer when he is fourth 
in hand, nor can it be enforced at all from Dummy. 

23 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

96. If a revoke be elaimed, and the accused 
player or his partner mix the cards before they 
have been sufficiently examined by the adversaries, 
the revoke is established. The mixing of the cards 
only renders the proof of a revoke difficult, but 
does not prevent the claim, and possible establish- 
ment, of the penalty. 

97. A revoke cannot be claimed after the cards 
have been cut for the following deal. 

98. If a revoke occur, be claimed and proved, 
bets on the odd trick, or on amount of score, must 
be decided by the actual state of the score after 
the penalty is paid. 

99. Should the players on both sides subject 
themselves to the penalty of one or more revokes, 
neither can win the game by that hand; each is 
punished at the discretion of his adversary. 

CALLING FOR NEW CARDS 

100. Any player (on paying for them) before, 
but not after, the pack be cut for the deal, may 
call for fresh cards. He must call for two new 
packs, of which the dealer takes his choice. 



24 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

GEIOIEAI, RULES 

101. Any one during the play of a trick, or 
after the four cards are played, and before, 
but not after, they are touched for the pur- 
pose of gathering them together, may demand 
that the cards be placed before their respective 
players. 

102. If either of the dealer's adversaries, prior 
to his partner playing, should call attention to the 
trick — either by saying that it is his, or by nam- 
ing his card, or, without being required so to do, 
by drawing it towards him — the dealer may re- 
quire that opponent's partner to play his highest or 
lowest of the suit then led, or to win or lose the 
trick. 

103. Should the partner of the player solely 
entitled to exact a penalty, suggest or demand the 
enforcement of it, no penalty can be enforced. 

104. In all cases where a penalty has been in- 
curred, the offender is bound to give reasonable 
time for the decision of his adversaries. 

105. If a bystander make any remark which 

calls the attention of a player or players to an 

25 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

oversight affecting the score, he is liable to he 
called on, by the players only, to pay the stakes 
and all bets on that game or rubber. 

106. A bystander, by agreement among the 
players, may decide any question. 

107. A card or cards torn or marked must be 
either replaced by agreement, or new cards called 
at the expense of the table. 

108. Once a trick is complete, turned, and 
quitted, it must not be looked at (except under 
Law 88) until the end of the hand. 



DUMMY BRIDGE 

Is played by three players. 

The player who cuts the lowest card deals first, 
and has the Dummy throughout the first rubber; 
the player who cuts the next lowest card has the 
Dummy for the second rubber. 

The dealer can make any of the ordinary Bridge 
declarations on his own hand, or he can leave it 
to the Dummy, in which case he must look at the 
Dummy, without exposing it, and must make the 
declaration as follows : — 

26 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

I. If Dummy holds three or four aces, he must declare 

"no trumps." 
II. If Dummy has not three aces, he must declare his 
numerically longest suit. 
III. If Dummy has two or three suits of equal length, he 
must declare the strongest, reckoned by addition 
of the pips, an ace counting eleven, and each of the 
other honours ten. 
IV. If Dummy's equal suits are also of equal strength, 
reckoned as above, then the most valuable of them 
must be declared. 

The adversaries can double as at ordinary 
Bridge, and the dealer has the right of re-doubling, 
although he has seen two hands; but he may not 
look at his own hand again before deciding whether 
to re-double. The hand is then played as at ordi- 
nary Bridge. 

When either of his opponents deals, the player 
of Dummy must look first at the hand which has 
to lead, and must double or lead to the first trick 
before looking at his other hand. 

The game can be played in either of the two 
following ways : — 

I. As soon as the first card is led, Dummy's hand is ex- 
posed on the table, and the game proceeds as at 
ordinary Bridge. 

27 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

II. As soon as the first card is led, both the Dummy's 
hand and the dealer's partner's hand are exposed on 
the table, and the hand is played Double Dummy. 

When it is Dummy's deal, his partner looks at 
his own hand first, and makes the declaration or 
passes it precisely as in the case of his own deal, 
the only difference in the play being that the first 
lead is by the player on his right, and is conse- 
quently through his hand instead of up to it. 

In all other cases the Laws of Bridge apply. - 

DOUBLE DUMMY 

The rules are the same as in Dummy Bridge, 
with the following exceptions : — 

The dealer deals for himself each time, never 
for his Dummy; and the hand on his left always 
leads first, and has the first right of doubling. 

Neither player may look at more than one of 
his two hands before the first card is led, excepting 
in the case of the dealer when the call is passed to 
Dummy. 

Either player is liable to the penalty of a revoke 
in his own hand, but not in his Dummy. 



28 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

THKEE-HANDED BKIDGE 

Is played by three players, all against all. 

The player who exits the lowest card has the 
first deal, and plays the Dummy for that hand. 
The player cutting the next lowest card sits on 
the dealer's left, and the remaining player on the 
dealer's right. 

When the first hand is finished, the player on 
the right moves into Dummy's place, and the 
player on the left (i. e., he who had cut the second 
lowest card) deals and plays the Dummy for that 
hand, and so on, until the completion of the 
rubber; the player on the dealer's right always 
moving into the vacant seat. 

The rules for declaring, leading, and doubling 
are the same as at Dummy Bridge. 

When the dealer wins the odd trick or more, the 
value of such trick or tricks is scored by him pre- 
cisely as at ordinary Bridge; but when he loses 
one or more tricks, the value of it or them is scored 
to each of his opponents above the line, instead of 
below it. 

Under no circumstances do the dealer's oppo- 
29 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

nents score anything below the line. Honours are 
scored as at ordinary Bridge; and when they are 
against the dealer they are scored to each opponent 
equally, however they are held. 

The game is 30 scored below the line, as at ordi- 
nary Bridge, and the player Avho first wins two 
games wins the rubber and adds 100 to his score; 
but the fact of one player winning his first game 
does not affect the scores of the other two — they 
still retain anything that they have scored below 
the line to count towards the next game. 

The rubber consists of four games; but when 
two games have been won by the same player, the 
other or others are not played. 

At the conclusion of the rubber, the total scores 
for tricks, Honours, Chicane, and Slam obtained 
by each player are added up, one hundred points 
are added to the score of the winner, and the differ- 
ence between his score and that of each of his 
opponents is the number of points won from, or 
lost to, each of them separately by the winner of the 
rubber. The difference between the scores of the 
two losers is also paid by the third player to 
the second. 

30 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

ETIQUETTE OF BEIDGE 

The following rules belong to the established 
Etiquette of Bridge. They are not called laws, 
as it is difficult — in some cases impossible — to 
apply any penalty to their infraction, and the only 
remedy is to cease to play with players who habitu- 
ally disregard them. 

It is to be borne in mind that, from the nature 
of the conditions under which the game is played, 
acts may be so done, and words so spoken, as to 
convey a very distinct intimation to a partner. To 
do so is to offend against the most important of 
the proprieties of the game. 

Declarations ought to be made in a simple man- 
ner — e. g., by saying, " I make hearts trumps " ; 
" There are no trumps " ; or, " I leave it to you." 
There ought to be neither intimation of doubt in, 
or reason for, making this declaration. Nothing 
ought to be done or said by the declarant which 
may afford an indication or intimation of the hand 
which he holds, or draws attention to the state of 
the score. 

A player should avoid any unnecessary hesita- 
31 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

tion in passing the trump declaration to his part- 
ner, or giving any well-marked indication of doubt 
or perplexity. 

Similarly, a player who has the first right of 
doubling or re-doubling on behalf of a partnership 
ought not to decline to exercise that right, and so 
pass it to his partner, after any unnecessary hesita- 
tion, or after giving any well-marked indication of 
doubt or perplexity. 

Any one, having the lead and one or more win- 
ning cards to play, should not draw a second card 
out of his hand until his partner has played to the 
first trick, such act being a distinct intimation that 
the former has played a winning card. 

A player who has looked at his cards ought not 
to give any indication by word or gesture as to the 
nature of his hand, or call the attention of his 
partner to the score of the game. 

A player who desires the cards to be placed, 
should do it for his own information only, and not 
in order to invite the attention of his partner. 

ISTo player should object to refer to a bystander, 

who professes himself uninterested in the game 

and able to decide, a disputed question of facts; 

32 



THE LAWS OF BRIDGE 

as to who played any particular card — whether 
honours were claimed though not scored, or vice 
versa — etc., etc. 

It is unfair to revoke purposely; having made 
a revoke, a player is not justified in making a 
second in order to conceal the first. 



33 



CHAPTER I 

THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

The real origin of Bridge is somewhat shrouded 
in mystery. The game is said to have originated 
in Russia, but there is no satisfactory proof of this 
statement. It was first known under the title of 
" Biritch, or Russian Whist," and this, no doubt, 
gave rise to the idea that it was of Russian origin, 
although, as a matter of fact, the word " Biritch " 
is not to be found in any Russian dictionary. 
Many years ago the Russians played a game called 
" ieralasch," or " ieralache," which closely re- 
sembled the game of short whist without a trump 
suit. From this foundation, arose the more scien- 
tific games of " Siberia " and " Preference," both 
of which had certain points in common with our 
game of Bridge, but there the connection ceases. 

There is no record whatever of the transforma- 
tion of any of these Russian games rato anything 

35 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

approaching modern Bridge. The game, as we 
play it, is far more likely to have been of Levan- 
tine origin. It was certainly played, very much in 
its present form, some forty years ago, in Eastern 
Europe, notably in Constantinople and in Greece, 
and, if there were any necessity to assign to it a 
definite nationality, we should not hesitate to 
award that honour to Greece. 

The prevalent idea that Bridge was unknown in 
England up to the time of its introduction at the 
Portland Club in 1894 is an entirely mistaken one. 
It was quite unknown in Clubland, but there is 
indisputable evidence of its having been known 
and regularly played in private circles for many 
years prior to that date (1894). 

It is stated in the supplement to the ninth edi- 
tion of the Encyclopaedia Britannica that the game 
was first introduced into England in the year 
1880, but no information is given as to who fur- 
nished this statement, or as to what authority if 
any, there is for it. 

We have received a letter — for which we are 

greatly indebted — from an English gentleman of 

Greek extraction, now resident in London, in 

36 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

which we are assured that the writer can remember 
the game of Bridge, very much in its present form, 
being regularly played among a colony of Greeks, 
settled in Manchester, of whom his own father was 
one, as far back as the seventies of the last century. 
The only important point of difference between the 
game as it was then played and as it is played now 
was, that the value of ISTo Trumps was 10 points 
per trick instead of 12, and that the four aces in 
one hand counted 80 above the line instead of 100 
as at present. Also, the lead of a heart, in answer 
to a double of No Trumps by the leader's partner, 
which is commonly supposed to have originated in 
America, was the general custom. There was no 
agreed-upon convention on the subject, but, when 
there was any possible doubt in the leader's mind 
as to which suit his partner wanted led, it was the 
invariable custom to lead a heart. The short-suit 
convention had not then been heard of. That was 
probably a purely English convention of a later 
date. 

It seems evident that the Greeks cannot be a 
proselytising nation, for, just as the game of 
Bridge took upwards of twenty years to spread 

37 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

from Greece to Western Europe, so these Greeks, 
who played the game so many years ago in Eng- 
land, do not appear to have been anxious to gain 
converts in this country, but were content to go 
on playing it among themselves, and it seems to 
have been confined exclusively to these small 
coteries. 

In the year 1886, a small pamphlet was printed 
in London, entitled Biritch, or Russian Whist. 
There is said to be only one copy of this pamphlet 
in existence, and that is in the library of the 
British Museum (press mark 7913 aa 51). It 
gives a very attenuated description of the game, 
with the method of scoring and a few laws as to 
declaring, passing the declaration, etc., but again 
we are without available information as to who 
framed these laws, or by whose authority they 
were published. 

The most valuable declaration, corresponding to 

our present call of " No Trumps," was " Biritch," 

or playing without trumps, and the value of this 

call was again 10 points per trick instead of 12, 

and also four aces in one hand counted 80 not 100. 

The winners of the rubber added 40 points to their 

38 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

score, instead of 100 points as in our present game, 
and this extra score was called " Consolation." 

There can be no doubt that the score for ±Zo 
Trumps ought to be 10 points per trick and not 
12, as that is following the regular upward se- 
quence of the suit declarations, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 ; and 
also, if the value of the tricks at No Trumps is to 
be 12 points, why should the honour score for aces 
not be also 12 points instead of 10 ? When, or 
why, or how, or by whom the change was made is 
quite unknown. When the game was first intro- 
duced at the Portland Club we were certainly told 
that the value of ~No Trumps was 12 points per 
trick, and the error, if error it was, must somehow 
have crept in accidentally. 

There is quite another version of the origin of 
the title of " Bridge." The story goes that, some 
twenty years ago, long before Bridge was known 
in London clubs, two families who played the 
game under the name of " Russian Whist " were 
living in neighbouring houses, at or near Great 
Dalby in Leicestershire. They were in the habit 
of visiting each other's houses on alternate even- 
ings to play this fascinating game, and the only 

39 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

road of communication between the two houses lay- 
over a broken-down and somewhat dangerous 
bridge, which was very awkward to cross in the 
dark. It was a frequent occurrence for the depart- 
ing guests to say to their hosts, " Thank goodness, 
it is your ' Bridge ' to-morrow," meaning that the 
other party would have to cross the dangerous 
bridge the next night. Hence is said to have arisen 
the title of " Bridge." We give this story for what 
it is worth, but in our own mind we have little 
doubt that the modern name of " Bridge " is 
merely a very easy corruption of the old title 
of "Biritch." The two words " Biritch " and 
" Bridge " have absolutely the same sound when 
spoken quickly, so that it is easy to imagine how 
the change of spelling came to pass. 

Mr. Jean Boussac, in his Encyclopedie des Jeux 
de Cartes, quotes an extract from the Figaro of 
November 26, 1893, to prove that the game of 
Bridge was played in Paris as early as 1893, but 
it must have been played there for several years 
before that date, as it was directly from Paris that 
the game was taken to America. 

In April, 1892, Mr. Henry Barbey returned to 
40 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

"New York, after spending the winter in Paris, 
very full of the new and delightful card game 
which he had learnt in that city. Shortly after his 
return he gave a dinner-party at his own house, 
with the special object of introducing the new 
game to his friends, but the experiment was not 
much of a success. His guests did not appear to 
be at all enraptured with the novelty, saying that 
the scoring was too difficult and the game altogether 
too complicated, and one or two of them left early 
and broke up the party. 

Mr. Barbey, in no way disheartened, consulted 
with Mr. H. de Forrest Weekes, whom he had 
converted to his own way of thinking, as to what 
was to be done next. They agreed that the wrong 
sort of men had been present at the first trial, and 
a second dinner was given to a carefully selected 
few, who were all enthusiastic card players, and 
this time the result was very different. 

In the meantime Mr. Barbey had drawn up on 

a sheet of paper a short precis of the method of 

scoring, and of the principal points of the game. 

He adopted the somewhat novel method of cutting 

out pips from a pack of ordinary playing-cards and 

41 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

pasting them on to the aforesaid sheet of paper, 
to indicate the different suits. This original docu- 
ment is noAV framed, and hanging in the card-room 
of the Whist Club of New York. After the second 
dinner-party Mr. Weekes had copies of this docu- 
ment printed, and sent them round to all the lead- 
ing clubs in New York. From this time the game 
took on like wild-fire, and it has never looked back 
since ; still, it did not have quite the same meteoric 
success in New York that it had in London, and 
Whist did not die the same sudden and unexpected 
death in America that it did in England. The 
game of Whist is still very much alive in America, 
and in this present year of grace, 1906, a new 
magazine, entitled Whist, has been started in New 
York. 

It is not necessary to repeat the oft-told tale 
of how Lord Brougham introduced Bridge into the 
Portland Club in London in the autumn of 1894. 
The game was quite unknown there up to that date, 
although it was not quite unheard of. Echoes of 
its existence had penetrated even into that sanc- 
tum, hitherto sacred to the cult of Whist. Friends 

staying in Cairo had written home glowing ac- 

42 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

counts of the new card-game being played there, 
and certain members of the New York Clubs, who 
are always welcome at the Portland, had given 
a full description of Bridge to members of that 
club in 1893, but nobody seemed inclined to give 
it a trial. Again, when the Americans came over 
in the spring of 1894, they expressed unbounded 
surprise to find us still playing Whist, and many 
members will remember Mr. Winthrop Gray say- 
ing : " What, have n't you learnt Bridge yet ? 
You are quite behind the times, but you are bound 
to come to it before long." When he returned in 
1895, he found that his words had been carried 
out to the letter, and that a very different state of 
affairs prevailed. 

When once Lord Brougham had explained the 
mysteries and charms of Bridge to a few members 
of the Club, and when once it was given a fair 
trial, the game of Whist was routed root and 
branch, and Bridge immediately took its place as 
the standard card game. Nobody who once played 
Bridge ever cared to go back to Whist. The tri- 
umph of the new game was sudden, complete, and 

overwhelming. 

43 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

From the Portland it soon found its way to the 
Turf Club, which had many members in common 
with the Portland, and there it has been received 
with even a warmer welcome. For a short time, a 
very short time, it was confined to these two clubs, 
but it soon began to spread to others, and wherever 
it was once introduced there it stayed, so that, in 
an incredibly short space of time the game of 
Whist came to be numbered with other relics of 
the past. 

The necessity then arose for a recognised and 
authorised code of laws for the new game, and a 
committee of three members of the Portland was 
appointed in December, 1895, to draft the re- 
quired code. The task was a difficult one, as their 
knowledge of the game was at that early stage a 
very elementary one, but the work was so skilfully 
and successfully done that the code of laws then 
drawn up lasted, practically unaltered, for a 
period of ten years, and stood the test of covering 
all the debatable points of the game. These laws 
were issued early in 1895, and in July of the 
same year they were submitted to a joint committee 

of the Portland and Turf Clubs, and, being passed 

44 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

with a few unimportant alterations, they became 
the standard laws of English Bridge, and remained 
so until another joint committee of the same clubs 
issued the " Eevised Laws of Bridge," at the end 
of 1904. 

In February, 1895, Messrs. T. De La Rue & 
Co., published " The Laws of Bridge, with a guide 
to the game," by " Boaz." This was the first 
Bridge book, with the exception of the small pam- 
phlet already mentioned, ever published in Eng- 
land, or, as far as we know, in any other country. 
A second edition of it appeared later in the same 
year, giving the authorised code of laws after they 
had been passed by the joint committee, and this 
was followed by two subsequent editions in 1896 
and 1897. In March, 1898, a fifth edition was 
published, together with a short treatise entitled 
" How to play Bridge," by " Badsworth." " Bads- 
worth " was the nom-de-plume of a well known 
member of the Portland Club, one of the ablest 
exponents of the game, and this little brochure 
remained the standard book on the subject for 
some three years. 

In 1899 a book on Bridge was published in 
45 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

India by " John Doe/' and an English edition of 

the same work was published in London in 1900. 

Also in 1899 appeared " Bridge, and how to play 

it," by Archibald Dunn, Junior; but by far the 

most important book on the game published in that 

year, although it is now very little known, was the 

" Pons Asinorum, or Bridge for Beginners," by 

A. G. Hulme-Beaman. Mr. Hulme-Beaman, 

author of " Twenty Years in the Near East," 

started as a student dragoman in the Levant, 

and he wrote of the game of Bridge from many 

years' personal experience of it as played in 

Eastern Europe. Here again we find the value 

of the ~No Trump call given as 10 points per 

trick instead of 12, and Mr. Beaman writes of 

the methods of " the well-known veteran bridge 

player, M. Mavrogordato," which goes to prove 

that the game of Bridge was no novelty in 

those climes, but an institution of many years' 

standing. 

It was not until 1901 that any real standard 

work on the subject made its appearance. In 

that year Messrs. T. De La Rue & Co., who have 

ever been the pioneers of card literature, pub- 

46 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

lished, almost simultaneously, " Bridge Abridged, 
or Practical Bridge," by the present writer, and 
" Hellespont on Bridge," " Hellespont " being the 
pseudonym of a gentleman, residing in India, who 
is said to have had great experience of the game 
as it is played in the East. These two books have 
both had a large sale, and both have run through 
several editions, and they still hold their place as 
the two standard works on the game. About the 
same time, or possibly a little earlier, an excel- 
lent elementary book for beginners was written 
by Mrs. J. R. Tennant, entitled, " The ABC 
of Bridge." This little book also had, as it 
well deserved, a large sale, and many were the 
players whom it initiated into the mysteries of the 
game. 

After these came a perfect flood of Bridge liter- 
ature, good, bad, and indifferent; going over the 
same old ground, again and again, and adding 
little of interest to what had been already written 
on the subject. There were a few notable excep- 
tions such as " Badsworth's " larger book, pub- 
lished, in 1903, Mr. J. B. Elwell's two excellent 

books, published in New York, and Mr. Foster's 

47 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

many books, published both, in New York and in 
London; but most of the subsequent books were 
little more than a repetition, more or less para- 
phrased, of what had been written in the earlier 
text books. 

For a considerable period after the introduction 
of the game into London in 1894, Bridge remained 
almost exclusively a club game. 

Men who played it at London clubs, also played 
it in their own country houses, or wherever they 
could get up a rubber, but it was by no means the 
popular social game that it has since become. It 
was not until the beginning of the present century, 
1900 or 1901, that the ladies discovered what a 
delightful field of amusement and mild speculation 
was open to them. 

The game of Whist had never appealed strongly 
to ladies. The scientific conventions of the game, 
its solemnity, and, above all, the enforced silence 
from which " Whist " probably derived its name, 
were not at all to their liking, but here was a very 
different matter. Here was a game at which it 
was not considered wicked to smile, or to make a 
harmless irrelevant remark. Here was a game at 

48 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

which they could meet men on even terms and 
hold their own with them, a game at which their 
naturally quick sense of intuition was of the 
greatest service, a game which offered that greatest 
of all charms to the female mind — infinite 
variety. 

When once the ladies discovered the fascination 
of the game, they adopted it as their own, and 
became even more enthusiastic about it than the 
men. There are at the present time many very 
fine women Bridge players, and their number is 
increasing every day. The general standard of 
Bridge has improved enormously in the last three 
or four years. Whereas it was at one time the 
exception to meet a really first-class player, they 
are to be met with now in every club and in every 
walk of life. The latest innovation is mixed 
Bridge clubs for men and ladies, and very popular 
they seem to be, and the standard of play at some 
of them is quite as good as that of many men's 
clubs. 

Bridge has to a certain extent revolutionised 
society. It has shortened the long, weary, and 
unwholesome dinners of ten years ago. It has 

4 49 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

altered entirely the dreadful tedious hour in the 
drawing-room after dinner, when one used to 
count the minutes until one could decently take 
one's departure. It has done away with the 
monotony of that awful wet day in a country 
house, which we used to know so wellj and it has 
given an added interest in life to many people. 
In short, like the Pickwick pen, it has " come 
as a boon and a blessing to men," and still more 
so to ladies. 

We are sometimes asked, " Is the popularity 
of Bridge on the wane ? " We unhesitatingly an- 
swer " ISTo." There is a strong tendency, every- 
where, to play for lower points. The twos and tens 
(2s. points, with £10 on the rubber) of the days 
of " The Boozers," are no longer heard of. The 
highest game played in London at the present time 
is Is. points, or £5 per 100, and the tendency to 
reduce this is so strongly marked, that it seems 
probable that threepenny points will become the 
standard game at the leading London clubs in the 
near future. 

Possibly Bridge may not be growing in popu- 
larity in London — there was hardly any room for 

50 



THE EVOLUTION OF BRIDGE 

it to do so — but in the country, at the seaside, 
Avherever people most do congregate, there the 
game is growing and nourishing like a green bay 
tree. 

Long may it continue to do so. 

Note. — For much of the information in this chapter I am 
indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Frederick Jessel, who not 
only furnished me with many interesting facts, but also gave 
me free access to his unique library of card literature. — W. D. 



51 



CHAPTEK II 

THE DECLAEATION" NO THUMPS 

The declaration at Bridge affords an opportunity 
for the exercise of certain qualities which were 
never called into use in the game of whist. Pre- 
cisely the same technical skill is required for the 
management and play of the cards in both games, 
but in whist the trump suit is arbitrarily settled 
by the turn-up card, whereas in Bridge the right 
of choosing the trump suit, and so fixing the value 
of the game, devolves upon the dealer or his part- 
ner, and the result of the game will frequently de- 
pend upon the judicious exercise of that right. If 
the dealer had only to consider the cards in his own 
hand his task would be quite simple, but he has to 
consider, not only the value of his own cards and 
how many tricks they are likely to win, but also the 
value of them combined with the unknown cards 
in his partner's hand. This demands sound judg- 
ment, a good knowledge of probabilities, and care- 

52 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

ful attention to the state of the score. The cards 
in his partner's hand being entirely unknown, the 
dealer can only be guided by the doctrine of aver- 
age. The average hand at Bridge consists of one 
ace, one king, one queen, one knave and so on 
down to one two; there may be greater strength 
or there may be less, but he is fairly entitled to 
credit his partner with an average hand, and on 
this assumption all his calculations should be 
based. A golden general rule for the guidance of 
the declarer, whether he be the dealer or the 
dummy, is that when he has a good hand, that is, 
a hand considerably above the average, he should 
make the game as expensive as possible, and con- 
versely, when he has a bad hand, or a hand below 
the average, he should make the game as cheap as 
possible. 

The most expensive declaration in Bridge being 
~No Trumps, when the value of each trick is twelve 
points, or more than a third of the whole game, 
the first consideration of the dealer should always 
be whether his hand is strong enough for this call. 
He should always declare !N"o Trumps at the score 
of love, when he can see a probability of winning 

53 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

the odd trick and a possibility of winning the 
game, with the assistance of an average hand from 
his partner — that is the point to be always re- 
membered, that an average hand from his partner 
is a contingency on which he is entitled to specu- 
late. If his partner has a bad hand, the result 
will possibly be temporary disaster, bnt he who 
never risks disaster will never court success, and 
waiting for a certainty is a very tedious business. 
The advantage of the ISTo Trump game to the 
dealer lies, not only in the increased value of each 
trick, but also in the greater facilities that it gives 
him for the successful combination of the two 
hands under his charge. Directly the first card is 
led and the dummy exposed he can see at a glance 
what forces are at his disposal, he can note exactly 
where his strength or his weakness lies, and he can 
utilise every element of strength in either hand to 
the greatest advantage, while his opponents are 
still in the dark, and know only that the leader has 
certain strength in the suit originally opened. 

It is very difficult to lay down any hard and 
fast rules as to what does or does not constitute a 

IsTo Trump hand. Some hands have no great 

54 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

strength in themselves, but being protected in 
every suit, they become very useful indeed when 
played in combination with another useful hand, 
although combined with an indifferent hand they 
become of very little use. Aces are a great ele- 
ment of strength in declaring No Trumps, and any 
hand containing three aces is considered a jeu de 
regie No Trump, even when there is not another 
court card in it. True, the three aces can only win 
three tricks, but they command their three respec- 
tive suits, and they enable the dealer to get the lead 
three times so as to play for any useful suit that his 
partner may have. Another valuable element of 
strength is a long suit with one or two high cards 
at its head, such a suit as king, knave, ten, and two 
others. Although this has not a single certain 
trick in it, it has great possibilities, because, if 
either the ace or queen is found in the partner's 
hand, four tricks in that suit become a certainty 
at once. 

By no means an uncommon type of No Trump 
declaration is a well-protected hand, with no great 
trick-making power in itself, but with a guard in 
every suit, and, consequently, with a certainty of 

55 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

stopping the opponents' opening lead, whatever 
suit may be selected. Such a hand as — 

Hearts — Ace, 8, 4. Clubs — Ace, 10, 3. 

Diamonds — King, 9, 5. Spades — Queen, 9, 5, 2. 

This is an undoubted No Trump call for the 
dealer, although in itself it will not win many 
tricks, but, paradoxical as it may appear, the dec- 
laration is made on the strength of the unknown 
cards in the dummy hand. If the dummy is found 
with any one good strong suit, whatever it may be, 
that suit is certain to be easy to establish, and 
there is at once the nucleus of a fine No Trumper. 
The great strength and advantage of the No 
Trump call lies, not in holding a certain number 
of winning cards in one hand or the other, but in 
the combination of the two hands, and in the op- 
portunity afforded to the dealer of being able to 
see at once where his two hands will combine to 
the greatest advantage, so that he can attack in the 
most vulnerable spot without any loss of time. 

When there is a question in the dealer's mind 
between a doubtful red suit declaration, and a 
rather light No Trump call, he should always go 

for the No Trump, so as to give himself the best 

56 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

chance of utilising every element of strength in 
his partner's hand, without being tied to one partic- 
ular suit. 

A well-known writer on Bridge, in his latest 
book, published in 1903, gives two instances of 
hands on which he tells his readers that he himself 
would not hesitate to declare hearts. The two 
hands are : — 

No. 1. No. 2. 

Hearts — King, queen, 10, 7. Hearts — Queen, knave, 9, 8. 

Diamonds — Ace, 8, 6. Diamonds — Ace, 10, 3. 

Clubs — Ace, 5. Clubs — Queen, knave, 8. 

Spades — 10, 9, 4, 2. Spades — King, queen, 9. 

The greater part of the book in question is 
thoroughly sound and instructive, but what can 
be said of such teaching as this, laid down for the 
instruction of beginners by a recognised authority ? 
To our way of thinking it is almost heretical. 
Neither of these hands is even a doubtful one. 
They are both good sound No Trump calls, with a 
fine chance of winning the game, and why in the 
world any player should tie his partner down to 
one particular suit, when he has such all-round 

strength in his own hand, is entirely beyond our 

57 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

comprehension. Even at the score of 22 or 24, 
when one odd trick in either hearts or No Trumps 
would win the game, we should still declare No 
Trumps on either of these two hands, as being the 
best chance of winning the odd trick. The so- 
called border-line No Trump call, provided that 
it does not touch the border line, is always justi- 
fiable in the early stages of the game, and it will 
be found to succeed far more often than it will fail, 
but both of the hands quoted above are sound No 
Trumpers, not even approaching the border line. 

A necessary qualification for a justifiable No 
Trump hand is that it should be guarded in three 
of the four suits. The dealer should never be de- 
terred from declaring No Trumps because he is 
very weak in, or even entirely devoid of, one suit, 
provided that his other three suits are strong. 
The fourth suit can be left for the dummy to pro- 
tect, and it will be unlucky if he has not some sort 
of protection in it. Chancing two suits is quite a 
different matter, and should only be resorted to 
as a very extreme measure, except in the case of 
what is known as a one suit No Trumper, which 
will be dealt with later on. 

58 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

There can be no doubt that the game of Bridge 
owes a great part of its charm to the ISTo Trump 
declaration. If the No Trump call were to be 
eliminated altogether, and the game confined to 
suit declarations, the popularity of Bridge would 
very quickly disappear, and it would soon be num- 
bered with whist, solo, boston, and other games 
of the past. But the No Trump call remains, and 
will always remain, as long as Bridge lasts, as the 
life and soul of the game,. and a player's first con- 
sideration, when he is dealer, should always be 
whether he has the requisite strength to declare 
No Trumps — not being unduly rash, nor taking 
any desperate risks, but, on the other hand, never 
throwing away a chance of a good score at No 
Trumps, because he is afraid of finding a bad hand 
in his dummy. The dealer is quite entitled to 
assume that his dummy will be capable of winning 
three tricks, not on its own merits alone, and not 
by any means certain tricks, but that the com- 
bination of the two hands will enable dummy to 
win three tricks. When the dealer has five such 
probable tricks in his own hand, assuming average 

assistance from his dummy, he has an undoubted 

59 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

No Trump call, provided that he is guarded in 
three suits, and that one, at least, of those three is 
headed by the ace. 

We will now consider the actual requirements 
for a ISTo Trump declaration. 

With four aces in one hand, No Trumps should 
always be declared, but it is possible to imagine an 
exception even to this rule. 

With such a hand as — 

Hearts — Aee, knave, 10, 9, 8, 5, 3, 2. Clubs — Ace, 3. 
Diamonds — Ace, 5. Spades — Ace. 

the right declaration at the score of love would be 
hearts and not No Trumps. The winning of the 
game would be practically a certainty with hearts 
as trumps, whereas, if No Trumps were declared, 
there would be a great danger of one of the other 
suits being brought in by the adversaries, and four 
or five tricks being lost in it, before the heart suit 
could be established. There would be a very sub- 
stantial and appreciable loss in the honour score 
by declaring hearts on this hand, but winning the 
game is the primary consideration, and the win- 
ning or losing of the rubber involves a difference 

of over 200 points; therefore, in such a case, it 

60 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

would be right to accept the loss of 68 or 84 points 
above the line for the certainty of winning the 
game, especially if it were the last game of the 
rubber. 

There are many players, with the gambling 
instinct strongly developed, who will not accept 
this theory, but who would unhesitatingly declare 
No Trumps on such a hand, for the sake of scoring 
100 above the line. The principle, however, is not 
sound. The best and soundest advice which can 
be given is, always to take the most likely chance 
of winning the game, quite regardless of extra 
points, either above or below the line, which might 
result from a bolder policy, if the cards happened 
to lie favourably. 

Holding three aces in his own hand, the dealer 
should never pass the call in the early stages of 
the game. A bare three-ace hand is not a strong 
No Trump call; in fact, it is a very weak one, 
but it has possibilities. The three aces are only 
good for three tricks, but they enable the dealer 
to stop each of the three suits which they com- 
mand, and they give him a fine chance of estab- 
lishing and bringing in any long suit which he 

61 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

may be fortunate enough to find in his dummy. 

Here again, the dealer makes the No Trump 

declaration, not on his three aces, not on the 

strength of his own hand, but on the assistance 

which his own hand will give to the strength 

which he hopes to find in the dummy. If the 

dummy has a bad hand there is certain to be 

disaster, but a three-ace hand always presents 

possibilities, and on those possibilities the forward 

declaration should be made. 

Any hand containing three aces is a jeu de regie 

No Trump call, but do not run away with the 

idea that the dealer is bound to declare No 

Trumps whenever he has three aces in his own 

hand. He must not pass the call with three aces, 

he is bound to make some declaration himself, 

but that declaration need not necessarily be No 

Trumps. That is, the danger of laying down a 

hard and fast rule, such as that a three-ace hand 

is a jeu de regie No Trump. Beginners are apt 

to think that they are not playing the game if 

they do not declare No Trumps with three aces, 

whatever the rest of their hand may be. Take 

the following two hands, for instance : — 

62 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

No. 1. No. 2. 

Hearts — Ace, queen, 10, 9, 2. Hearts — 7, 3. 
Diamonds — Ace, 7, 4. Diamonds — Ace, king, knave, 

Clubs — 9, 7, 3. 10, 4, 2. 

Spades — Ace, 10. Clubs — Ace, 8, 5. 

Spades — Ace, 9. 

Both of these hands contain the requisite three 
aces, yet no experienced Bridge player would de- 
clare 'No Trumps on either of them at the score 
of love all. He would declare hearts on E"o. 1, 
and diamonds on ISTo. 2. A light JSTo Trump, 
however amende it may be, is always preferable 
to a light red suit declaration, but a strong red 
suit declaration, such as either of the above, is 
far better than an average ~No Trump call. There 
is a certainty of making a good score, and a good 
possibility of winning the game, without taking 
any risks at all. If the dummy puts down a 
good hand, with protection in the dealer's un- 
guarded suit, the game would be won at ISTo 
Trumps, but in that case it would probably be 
won also on the suit declaration, although the 
winning score would not be so great. On the 
other hand, if the dummy has a very bad hand, 
every trick in the dealer's weak suit may be made 

63 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

against him, and it may be all that he can do to 
save the game. 

We are particularly anxious to disabuse the 
beginner's mind of the idea that he is bound to 
declare ~No Trumps whenever he holds three aces. 
He certainly should make a declaration on his 
own hand, and, if he has not got a good red suit, 
he must declare !No Trumps, but if he has a 
good suit of either hearts or diamonds, and one 
other suit entirely unguarded, he will often find 
that he has sacrificed the substance for the shadow 
if he is so fed up with the knowledge of his three 
aces that he considers himself bound to declare 
No Trumps, in preference to going for a safer 
game and a certain score. 

It has been already said that a three-ace hand is 

a jeu de regie JSTo Trump, and it is the only jeu de 

regie in the game of Bridge, but there are many 

good ~No Trump hands which contain two aces, or 

only one, or even no ace at all. Aces are a good 

solid foundation for a No Trump hand, but they 

are not everything, and it is quite possible to 

attach too much importance to the possession of 

them. Certainly, a JSTo Trump declaration with- 

64 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

out an ace at all is an extreme measure, but there 
are occasions when extreme measures must be re- 
sorted to. The dealer may quite well have a hand, 
without an ace, which is too strong and well 
guarded to pass the declaration with, but on which 
he cannot declare a red suit. In this case, he has 
no alternative but to declare No Trumps. It 
should be remembered that, when the dealer has 
no ace in his own hand, the odds are, approxi- 
mately, 9 to 2 on his partner holding one or more, 
and only 6 to 4 against his partner holding two or 
more. Two aces in his partner's hand will turn 
such a hand as we are supposing the dealer to hold 
into a very fine No Trumper, and one ace will 
fortify it immensely; so that it is not a case of 
running an enormous risk for the dealer to declare 
No Trumps without an ace, provided that his hand 
is sufficiently good to warrant it. Four kings are 
a necessity, or at least three kings, with queen, 
knave, and others in the fourth suit, and two at 
least of the kings, or better still three of them, 
should have the queen or knave behind them. The 
following are two hands taken from Captain 
Beasley's " London Bridge," on which the author 

5 65 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

says that he should always declare No Trumps at 
the score of love all : — 

No. 1. No. 2. 

Hearts — King, knave, 10. Hearts — King, 10. 

Diamonds — King, 2. Diamonds — Queen, 8, 7. 

Clubs — King, knave, 9. Clubs — King, queen, 10, 3, 2. 

Spades — King, queen, knave, Spades — King, queen, 8. 
10, 3. 

In No. 2 we should prefer to have the knave of 
diamonds as well, but here you have the opinion of 
a first-class player as to what he would do himself. 
Of course, there is always the danger of finding 
100 aces against you in one hand, but the odds 
against this are 56% to 1, and such extreme odds 
need hardly be taken into consideration. 

A good general formula for a No Trump hand 
is that it should be at least the value of one queen 
above the average, and that three of the suits 
should be properly guarded, and we should add to 
this that it must have at least one ace. 

A very difficult hand on which to declare is, 
when the dealer holds considerable strength in 
both the red suits, but not strength enough to make 
a good red suit declaration. 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

Say that he has 

Hearts — Ace, king, 9, 8. 
^Diamonds — Ace, queen, knave 5. 
Clubs — 10, 7, 4. 
Spades — 9, 6. 

What is he to do with this hand? It is a bad 
No Trump declaration, because he is chancing two 
entire suits, and neither red suit is quite strong 
enough for an attacking declaration. The hand, 
containing five honours in the red suits, is one of 
distinct value, and yet, if the dealer passes the 
declaration, it is practically certain that his 
partner will be obliged to declare a black suit, in 
which case all the attacking value of the hand is 
gone. With such a hand as this, the dealer must 
harden his heart, take a little extra risk, and boldly 
declare No Trumps. If the hand goes very wrong, 
he is certain to be told by his irate partner that it 
was an unjustifiable call, but such ignorant criti- 
cism by results is one of the penalties that one has 
to pay for playing an intelligent game, and for 
'taking risks that are well worth taking. 

The hand is far too good a one to pass for an 

almost certain black suit declaration, and it is 

better to take the wider chance of declaring No 

67 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

Trumps than to tie one's partner to one particular 
suit. If either red suit is declared, and the 
dummy happens to be very weak in the declared 
suit, no material good can possibly result, however 
good the rest of the dummy's cards may be. If 
the suits were reversed, and the dealer's two 
strong suits were the black ones, he should not hesi- 
tate to pass the declaration, hoping for a strong 
red suit declaration from his partner, in which 
case his own winning black cards would be very 
useful ; but, when he has strength in both the red 
suits, there is little hope of a left No Trump call, 
and he is almost certain to get a black suit declara- 
tion. The declaration of the dealer must be gov- 
erned a great deal by the consideration of what 
his partner is likely to declare if he leaves it. 
Take such a hand as — 

Hearts — 8, 3. Clubs — Queen, knave, 10, 6. 

Diamonds — Ace, queen, 9, 4. Spades — King, 8, 5. 

This is a weak No Trump declaration, but if the 
dealer passes with this hand, what can he expect ? 
Hearts, probably, in which he is very weak him- 
self. If his partner has strength in hearts, it at 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

once becomes a good No Trumper, therefore he 
had better speculate on his partner being strong 
in that suit, rather than risk an expensive declara- 
tion being made in a suit in which his own hand 
can give no material assistance. 

As a summary, we cannot do better than quote 
" Hellespont's " " Analysis of No Trump Dec- 
larations." He says: — 

The dealer should always declare No Trumps 
at the score of love all, when his hand contains : 

(a) Four aces, whatever the other cards may be; 

(&) Three aces, unless six or more hearts are 
held; 

(c) At least one queen in excess of a hand of 
average strength, and three suits securely guarded ; 

(d) Six or more certain tricks in spades or 
clubs, and one other ace; 

(e) Generally when he holds both the red aces 
and kings, accompanied by one or two small ones 
in each suit, and nothing in the black suits. 

Unless, in (&), (c), and (a), five honours or 

four honours in hearts or diamonds are held, when 

the suit should be declared in preference. 

69 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

Without an ace, No Trumps should not be de- 
clared at the score of love all, except with four 
kings and four queens, and an evenly divided 
hand ; and not even then, if four honours in hearts 
or diamonds are held. 

We do not quite agree with clause (&). Five 
hearts, or six diamonds, with honours at the head 
of them, and two other aces, is a far better and 
sounder suit declaration than a No Trump; and 
again, when the dealer holds four kings and no 
ace, it is not necessary to hold the four queens in 
addition. When three of the kings, or even two, 
have the queen or knave behind them, a No Trump 
call is quite justifiable at the score of love all. 

There is a system, known as the Robertsonian 
or Robertson Rule, which came to us from India, 
and which professes to establish a standard for a 
justifiable No Trump call by assigning a figure 
value to the court cards. This will sometimes be 
found of great use to a beginner, by helping him to 
determine whether a doubtful hand has the requi- 
site strength for a No Trump call, but it is by no 
means to be regarded as final. 

70 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

It is quite impossible to lay down any general 
rule or formula which will cover all the variations 
of No Trump declarations. The practised Bridge 
player learns by experience what constitutes a 
justifiable No Trump call and what is a very risky 
declaration, but the player of less experience will 
do well to co mm it this formula to memory and to 
be guided a great deal by it, when he finds himself 
with such a hand that he is in doubt whether to 
declare No Trumps himself or to pass the declara- 
tion to his partner. 

The Robertsonian system is the following : — 

Each Ace counts 7. Each Queen counts 3. 

„ King „ 5. „ Knave „ 1. 

When the collective value of the court cards in 
the hand amounts to 21 or more it is supposed to 
be a justifiable No Trump, provided that the count- 
ing cards are spread over at least three of the suits, 
and that they are all properly guarded, that is to 
say, that a king has at least one guard, a queen at 
least two, and a knave three. This system is ob- 
viously based on the bare three-ace No Trump, 
as the value of three aces amounts to exactly 

21. It is of more value negatively than positively, 

71 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

by which is meant that no hand which does not 
count 21 is a justifiable No Trump, but it does not 
quite follow that any hand which does count up to 
21 will succeed at No Trumps. For instance, the 
four kings and one knave would count 21, but it 
would be a desperately risky declaration, and again 
the bare three-ace call, spoken of above, is a decla- 
ration which requires considerable assistance from 
your partner to carry it through with success. The 
following are two very light calls, which reach the 
required standard : — 

No. 1. No. 2. 

Hearts — Ace, 8, 6. Hearts — Ace, knave, 3. 

Diamonds — Queen, 9, 7, 2. Diamonds — King, 9, 6. 

Clubs — King, knave, 3. Clubs — King, queen, 7, 2. 

Spades — King, 8, 5. Spades — 9, 8, 4. 

The figure value of both these hands amounts 
to exactly 21, and they are both very near the 
border line, but experience has abundantly proved 
that border-line No Trumps succeed far more 
often than they fail, and No Trumps should be 
declared on either hand at the score of love all. 
No. 1 is slightly better than No. 2 because it is 

guarded in all the four suits. The weakest point 

72 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

in the Robertsonian Rule is that it does not take 
into consideration the backbone given to a hand 
by a long suit. Take such a hand as — 

Hearts — King, 4. Clubs — King, knave, 10, 9, 7, 5. 

Diamonds — Queen, 8, 3. Spades — Ace, 7. 

This hand counts only 21, but it is a hand with 
great possibilities, and no Bridge player of any 
experience would hesitate to declare No Trumps 
on it. 

One other variety of the No Trump call must be 
mentioned. When you hold six or more cards of a 
black suit, thoroughly established, and one other 
card of entry, No Trumps should always be de- 
clared at the score of love. You will, of course, 
be running a considerable risk with two entire 
suits against you, but you may trust your partner 
to hold something of value in one or both of them, 
and the probable gain is well worth the risk. Di- 
rectly either you or your partner can get in, the 
odd trick at least, and very probably the game, is 
a certainty, but your suit must be thoroughly es- 
tablished — the ace, king, queen at the head of it 

is a necessity. 

73 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

Take such a hand as — 

Hearts — Ace, 7. Clubs — Ace, king, queen, 9, 7, 5, 4. 

Diamonds — 8, 5, 3. Spades — 10. 

This is an undeniable No Trump. It is somewhat 
of a gamble, as you may find an equally powerful 
suit of diamonds or spades in the leader's hand, 
in which case you will be doubled and probably 
lose the game, but the chance is well worth risk- 
ing, and you will find that you will win the game 
on it in four cases out of five. 

In the early days of Bridge No Trump calls 
were far less frequent than they are at the present 
day. Players had not fully recognised the pos- 
sibilities of the call, and the very great advantage 
which it gives to the player of the two hands. 
They were rather shy of declaring No Trumps 
without some protection in every suit, and were 
often surprised to find what chances they had 
missed by refusing to take a little extra risk. In 
these latter days a certain section of players are 
inclined to run to the opposite extreme, and to 
declare No Trumps on the most shadowy pretext. 
Such a one will say to you at the beginning of a 

rubber, " I hope you do not mind light No 

74 



THE DECLARATION — NO TRUMPS 

Trumps, partner, I am a very forward player." 
This is the most dangerous type of partner, and 
you will be lucky if you get out of it without 
disaster. Bridge is a game in which, if you are 
holding fairly good cards, it will pay you to de- 
clare to their full value, but directly you try to 
force the game, and declare beyond the legitimate 
value of the cards in your hand, disaster is certain 
to follow. There is no player more easy to beat 
in the long run than the one who tries to import 
into the game the bluff element peculiar to poker, 
by declaring above the value of his hand. The 
old hackneyed proverb, medio tutissimus ibis, ap- 
plies strongly to the game of Bridge, and especially 
to the making of No Trumps. 



75 



CHAPTEE III 

ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

Failing ISTo Trumps, the next consideration of the 
dealer should be whether he is strong enough to 
make an attacking red suit declaration. 

HEARTS 

There are certain hands which admit of no 
doubt as to the suit to be declared ; these need not 
be discussed. It is nearly always right to declare 
hearts when holding four honours, as the honour 
score of 64 is too valuable an asset to be lightly 
given up ; also hearts should be declared in pref- 
erence to diamonds when holding cards of nearly 
equal value in the two suits. A good heart is a 
very sound call, but there is no greater pitfall in 
Bridge than a doubtful or light heart hand. 

Many players seem utterly unable to realise 

this, and no amount of experience teaches them. 

A genuine heart hand should contain five probable 

76 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

tricks, and a good rule to remember is that four 
probable tricks is the very lowest strength on which 
hearts should ever be declared. By five probable 
tricks is meant such a hand as — 

Hearts — Ace, queen, 9, 8, 3. Clubs — 10, 3. 

Diamonds — King, 7, 4. Spades — Queen, knave, 4. 

With this hand the dealer might reckon on 
three tricks in hearts, one in diamonds, and one 
in spades. The five tricks are by no means certain, 
but he would be justified in expecting to win five 
tricks with an ordinary placing of the cards. 

Ace, king, queen, and the two other hearts also 
represent five probable tricks, and hearts should 
always be declared on that strength, even with no 
other card higher than a 9, the dealer's partner 
being certainly to be trusted to win two or three 
other tricks in the other suits. 

Some players are very fond of making what they 
are pleased to call a " defensive " red suit declara- 
tion. They will declare hearts on such a hand as — 

Hearts — King, 9, 8, 6, 2. Clubs — 10, 8, 4. 

Diamonds — Knave, 7, 5. Spades — 7, 6. 

their argument being that the hand is worth 

nothing unless hearts are trumps. Never was 

77 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

there a more fallacious argument. Certainly the 
hand is worth next to nothing unless hearts are 
trumps, but it is worth very little even when hearts 
are trumps, and yet such a player will voluntarily 
fix the value of the trump suit at its highest point, 
besides depriving his unhappy partner of the op- 
portunity of declaring a good suit if he has one. 
The very utmost value of the above hand is three 
tricks, consequently, in order to win the odd trick, 
the dealer's partner is expected to do more than 
the dealer himself, without the option of making 
a declaration. Again, six hearts headed by the 
9 or 10, and no other elements of strength in the 
hand, is worth, at the very outside, three tricks, 
yet this is a declaration that one sees made every 
day. If the long suit in either of the above- 
mentioned hands was spades instead of hearts, 
there might be some sense in the dealer snatching 
at the declaration, so as to make the value of the 
game as cheap as possible, but there can be no sense 
in his voluntarily fixing the trick value at its 
highest point, when he knows that one of the two 
hands which he has to play is a bad one. Some- 
how, five hearts, whatever the value of them, seem 

78 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

to have a subtle fascination for some players, and 
they cannot bear to pass the declaration in such a 
case. 

As it has become a recognised fact that fairly 
light No Trump declarations pay in the long run, 
so it has become clearly established among knowl- 
edgable players that to declare hearts without 
reasonable justification is the high road to Bridge 
perdition. 

The following table will be found to cover all 
genuine heart declarations at the ^core of love all. 
The dealer should declare hearts when he holds — 

(1) a. Any four honours. 

b. Five, with three honours, including the 
ace or king. 

c. Six, with one honour higher than the 10, 
however bad the rest of his hand may be. 

(2) d. Five headed by the ace; 

e. Five headed by king, queen, or king, 

knave. 
/. Five headed by queen, knave, or queen, 

with two probable tricks in other suits. 

(3) g. Five headed by king or queen. 

79 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

h. Four, with three honours, including ace 
or king, with three probable tricks in 
other suits. 

With less strength than any of the above, the 
dealer should not declare hearts at the score of love 
all, under ordinary circumstances. It should be 
remembered that, when the dealer declares hearts, 
he is at once assuming the offensive, and making 
the game as expensive as possible, short of a ~Ro 
Trump declaration. If he elects, on his own re- 
sponsibility, to make the game expensive, surely 
the chances of success ought to be strongly in his 
favour. The ~No Trump declaration has possi- 
bilities which the heart declaration does not pos- 
sess. When the dealer declares a light heart, he 
ties his partner down to have some assistance in 
the heart suit. His partner may have useful 
cards in other suits, but, if he has no assistance in 
the trump suit, the usefulness of those cards is 
very seriously impaired. For this reason alone, 
apart from other considerations, a light heart dec- 
laration is a very dangerous call. 

Here again, as with regard to the ~No Trump 
80 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

call, the dealer must be greatly influenced by the 
consideration of what his partner is likely to de- 
clare if he passes the declaration. 
Suppose the dealer to hold — 

Hearts — King, queen, 10, 6. Clubs — 7, 2. 

Diamonds — King, queen, 5. Spades — Queen, 10, 8, 3. 

This is not strong enough for a No Trump call, 
but yet it is a good hand, too good to pass the 
declaration, for an almost certain black suit. 
True, there is a chance of a three-ace No Trump 
declaration by the dummy, but that is a 9 to 1 
against chance, and a defensive black suit declara- 
tion is much more likely. With this hand the 
dealer should declare hearts, having a probability 
of four or possibly five tricks in his own hand, 
against a very faint possibility of a more valuable 
declaration by passing. 

Again, suppose the dealer's hand to consist of — 

Hearts — Ace, 9, 8, 6, 4. Clubs — 10, 5. 

Diamonds — Ace, knave, 8, 3. Spades — 8, 3. 

This is a bad heart hand. It cannot be reckoned 

as being good for more than four tricks ; but what 

is the dealer to expect if he passes the declaration ? 
e 81 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

A No Trump call is very unlikely, as he himself 
holds the two red aces, and dummy will probably 
declare either clubs or spades, in both of which 
suits his own hand is very weak. The hand has a 
distinct value with a red suit as trumps, but very 
little value with a black suit. Therefore, seeing 
that there is only a faint prospect of anything but 
a black suit declaration if he passes, the dealer 
should choose the lesser of two evils, and declare 
hearts himself, being influenced solely by the con- 
sideration of what his partner would be likely to 
do if he left it. 

Let us again repeat that a good heart call is 
better than an average No Trump. The following 
hands are all better heart than !No Trump calls : — 

No. 1. No. 2. 

Hearts — Ace, 10, 8, 7, 6, 2. Hearts — Ace, queen, 10, 5, 4. 
Diamonds — Ace, 9. Diamonds — Ace, knave, 6. 

Clubs — 10, 3. Clubs — King, queen, 9, 2. 

Spades — Ace, knave, 5. Spades — 4. 

No. 3. No. 4. 

Hearts — Ace, king, knave, Hearts — Ace, queen, knave, 

6, 2. 9, 5. 

Diamonds — 7, 3. Diamonds — 7. 

Clubs — Ace. Clubs — Queen, knave, 10, 4. 

ies — King, knave, 10, Spades — Ace, king. 

82 



8, 4. 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

Each of these four hands fulfils the requirements 
for a No Trump call, but the question is whether 
the dealer is not quite as likely, or more likely, to 
win four by cards with hearts as trumps, than to 
win three by cards at ISTo Trumps. Also there is 
no risk with the heart declaration. All these 
hands have one unguarded suit, with the conse- 
quent probability of being attacked in that suit. 
It must not be forgotten that the opponents have 
an unpleasant habit of attacking in the declarer's 
weakest suit. They do not usually attack in a suit 
of which he holds two or three honours. It hap- 
pens so sometimes, but much more often they find 
the weak spot at the first attempt, and then what 
becomes of the fine ~No Trumper, unless the 
dummy happens to be guarded in that suit. We 
said in the last article that the dealer should not 
be afraid of chancing one suit at ~No Trumps, 
when he is strong in the other three, and we ad- 
here to that statement ; but, when he is really strong 
in hearts, it is a safer and sounder policy to declare 
that suit, rather than to run the risk of finding 
his partner also weak in his own unguarded spot. 

It is a very excellent general rule that the 
83 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

dealer should declare hearts when he can see a 
probability of five tricks in his own hand, with 
average assistance from his dummy. If his hand 
is worth less than that, he will do better, in the 
long run, to pass the declaration. 

The five-heart craze appears to be so strongly 
ingrained in the minds of many Bridge players 
that they are incapable of realising the fact that 
four good hearts are stronger than five moderate 
ones. Surely ace, king, queen, 2 of hearts must 
be stronger than king, knave, 9, 7, 5. The ace, 
king, queen hand is good for three tricks at least, 
and will be able to extract most, if not all, of the 
opponents' trumps, but not so the other. If the 
high trumps happen to lie over this hand, it is 
good for very few tricks, and, as regards extracting 
the opponents' trumps, it is practically useless, 
yet there are many players who would cheerfully 
declare hearts on the latter hand, but who would 
be very chary of doing so on the former, because 
they had only four of the suit. The four*trump 
heart declaration is not one to be strongly recom- 
mended, because, if it has the requisite strength 

behind it, it must be getting near to a No Trump 

84 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

call, which would be generally preferable. But 
if the hand is not strong enough for No Trumps, 
and the dealer can see that there is little or no 
chance of a good declaration by dummy, the fact 
that he has only four trumps should not deter him 
from declaring hearts, provided that he can see a 
fair chance of winning the odd trick or more. 

The one fact which we desire to impress upon 
our readers is that there is no more useless and 
dangerous call at Bridge, nor one which leads to 
more trouble, and loses more games day by day, 
and week by week, than a light heart declaration 
by the dealer without proper backing-up strength 
behind it 

DIAMONDS 

The declaration of diamonds by the dealer is 
a subject on which there is considerable difference 
of opinion. The best American players, who are 
very sound judges of the game, never make an 
original diamond declaration at the score of love, 
unless they are overwhelmingly strong in the suit. 
They would always leave it to their partner with 
ace, king, and three other diamonds, and two 

85 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

other probable tricks in their hand, in fact, they 
hardly recognise the diamond call as an original 
offensive declaration. Some of our English play- 
ers go to the other extreme and declare diamonds 
as dealer with the same strength on which they 
declare hearts. The American system is undoubt- 
edly the sounder of the two, but it is sometimes 
carried a little too far. When the dealer makes 
an original diamond declaration, he is giving up 
the chance of two more valuable declarations by 
his partner, namely, hearts and No Trumps, and 
it must be taken as a Bridge axiom that when the 
cards are above the average strength the highest 
declaration possible to either of the hands should 
be aimed at. 

All experienced Bridge players will acknowledge 
that the diamond call is a proverbially unlucky 
one, and one that rarely does any material good, 
either because the hands would have worked out 
much better with a heart or a No Trump call by 
the dummy, or because the dummy is very weak 
and able to give little or no assistance. Occasion- 
ally the original diamond declaration succeeds 
well, and either wins the game or makes a good 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

score, but in the long run the player who is very 
shy of declaring an original diamond will profit 
by his shyness. The worst of all reasons, yet one 
of the most common, for the dealer declaring dia- 
monds is that he is very weak in hearts. This 
should be the very reason for passing the declara- 
tion. When he is very weak in hearts, there is a 
greatly increased probability of his partner being 
very strong in that suit and a good heart call is 
far preferable to a strong diamond. The time to 
declare diamonds is when the dealer has also such 
strength in the heart suit that a declaration of 
hearts by his partner is extremely improbable. 
Suppose that he holds ace, king, and three small 
diamonds, and ace, knave, and two small hearts. 
In this case it is almost a certainty that his partner 
must declare a black suit, as he is very unlikely 
to be able to declare hearts, nor is he likely to 
declare No Trumps without either of the red 
aces, therefore the dealer should declare diamonds 
as the means of giving the hand its highest avail- 
able value. If the ace, knave, and two others were 
in clubs or spades the declaration should be passed, 
in the hope of a heart declaration by the dummy. 

87 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

A few months ago there was considerable dis- 
cussion and a substantial wager as to the correct 
declaration on the following hand : — 

Hearts — King, queen, 1 0, 6. Clubs — 9 . 

Diamonds — King, queen, 10, 6. Spades — King, queen, 10, 6. 

It was agreed to submit the hand to four of the 
best known authorities on the game, with the re- 
quest that they would state what they would declare 
on it at the score of love all, if the declaration were 
passed to them. This was done, but it was a case 
of " Who shall decide when doctors disagree ? " 
Of the four experts, one said " spades," one said 
" No trumps," and two said " hearts." It is a 
very doubtful hand, but the spade declaration 
would be an exceedingly backward and timid one 
and is not worth considering. The hand is dis- 
tinctly above the average, and therefore either the 
dealer or the dummy with such a hand ought to 
give it a scoring value. The No Trump declaration 
on the other hand, is forward to rashness. True, 
the hand fully answers the requirements of a No 
Trump under the Robertsonian Rule, as the figure 
value of it amounts to 24, and three suits are well 
guarded, but the Robertsonian Rule can hardly be 

88 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

applied to such a hand as this. To declare No 
Trumps, on a passed hand, without an ace and 
with one suit entirely unguarded, would be rather 
asking for trouble, especially as there is a strong 
probability of 30, and a possibility of 100, against 
you in the honour score. This leaves the choice 
between hearts and diamonds, and as the hand is 
above the average, it would seem right to declare 
hearts at the score of love, or at any point in the 
score when less tricks would be required to win 
the game in hearts than in diamonds. Still it 
cannot be called a good heart, and with the dealer's 
score at 12, 18, 20, 24, or 26, it would be sounder 
to declare diamonds, as the same amount of tricks 
would then win the game in hearts and diamonds 
and a lesser liability would be incurred if the hand 
went wrong. With the score at 28 it would be 
an undoubted spade declaration. 

In the early days of Bridge many players used 
to declare their best suit, irrespective of trick 
value, when they could see a practical certainty 
of the odd trick or more; thus they would de- 
clare clubs or even spades as dealer, when they 

were very strong in that suit, so as to be sure of 

89 



ATTACKING SUIT DECLARATIONS 

scoring something. This has been entirely altered 
by experience, and it is not now considered right 
to make any declaration as an aggressive measure 
on which there is no possibility of winning the 
game. 



90 



CHAPTER IV 

DEFENSIVE SUIT DECLARATIONS BY THE DEALER 

It should be understood that these present articles 
deal only with the declaration at the score of love 
all ; that is to say, the deal in question is the first 
one of the rubber. The question of declarations 
to the score is dealt with later, at page 110. 

Let us take this opportunity of saying that the 
dealer, when he elects to pass the declaration 
should do so in the simplest possible manner, 
without hesitation and without undue haste, 
always using the same formula, and not inter- 
larding it with unnecessary and inconsequential 
remarks. Any of the expressions " I pass," or 
" I leave it to you, partner," or " Will you make 
the trump, please," meet the case admirably, 
and one of these, or some similar expression, 
should always be employed, without any embroid- 
ery whatever. 

91 



DEFENSIVE SUIT DECLARATIONS 

RED SUIT DECLARATIONS 

We have already alluded to the so-called " de- 
fensive heart " declaration, but the very term 
itself is a misnomer. Where does the defense come 
in when the dealer makes the game expensive be- 
cause he has a very moderate hand? Where is 
the defence in engaging in a fight before half one's 
forces have been brought into action? A similar 
case would be two allied armies opposed to a com- 
mon enemy, and the one general, having arrived 
first upon the scene of action, taking upon himself 
the responsibility of engaging the enemy, with a 
very inadequate force, because he was afraid of the 
allied general imperilling the position by some 
grave error of tactics, if he were waited for and 
allowed to take a part in the proceedings. 

The player who makes a " defensive " red suit 

declaration as dealer is in the position — to use a 

somewhat vulgar colloquialism — of " standing a 

licking to nothing." He has very little chance of 

doing any good unless his partner has a hand on 

which some useful declaration could have been 

made, and, if his partner has a bad hand, there is 

92 



DEFENSIVE SUIT DECLARATIONS 

a certainty of heavy loss, and a great possibility 
of being doubled and losing the game. Can it be 
sound play to make the game expensive on such 
a prospect as this ? 

When the dealer picks up a hand on which he 
cannot make a good attacking suit declaration, he 
should pass the call to his partner, or, if he is 
of that way of thinking, declares spades, so as to 
get out as cheaply as possible. He can never be 
justified in making an expensive declaration, on 
the ground that his own hand is of no use with 
any other suit as trumps, unless he can see a fair 
chance of winning at least the odd trick, assuming 
average strength, not more, in his partner's hand. 

CLUBS 

An original club declaration by the dealer, when 
he has a very strong suit of clubs, and nothing else 
in his hand, has something to be said for it. When 
the dealer holds six clubs, with three or four hon- 
ours, he has the option of taking a certain score, 
although a small one, both above and below the line, 
or of leaving it to his partner and possibly getting 
a doubled spade, or a rather sketchy red suit 

93 



DEFENSIVE SUIT DECLARATIONS 

declaration. The principle of declaring clubs on 
such a hand is the old one of the bird in hand being 
worth two in the bush, but, in this case, the birds 
in the bush are not confined to two — there may be 
a whole flock of them. If the No Trump declara- 
tion on a passed hand did not exist, we should have 
no doubt that the dealer ought to declare clubs with 
great strength in that suit, but there is always a 
possibility, and not a very slight one, with such a 
hand, of a No Trump declaration, in which case 
the strong club suit becomes of great value, and 
the game will probably be won. This is a chance 
well worth taking, and on this chance alone we 
should advise our readers never to declare clubs 
when dealer as an aggressive measure. If a player 
chooses to declare clubs as a defensive measure, 
that is quite a different matter. There is real 
defence in a strong club hand, with no risk of loss, 
and it then becomes simply a question of whether 
the player in question belongs to the school which 
believes in defensive black suit declarations by the 
dealer, or to the other, bolder school, which argues 
that defence is the province of the dummy and 

not of the dealer. 

94 



DEFENSIVE SUIT DECLARATIONS 

The original club declaration is a very debatable 
point, because there are a considerable number of 
good players, of long experience, who habitually 
declare clubs as dealer, when they are very strong 
in that suit, but not strong enough to declare No 
Trumps. They prefer to take a certain score, 
rather than to go for larger, if somewhat specu- 
lative, possibilities. They may possibly be right, 
although we ourselves do not hold with the theory. 

SPADES 

The " defensive " spade declaration by the 
dealer because he has a very bad hand, is quite an 
innovation of modern times, and the Bridge-play- 
ing world is at present divided into two distinct 
schools on this point. The " defensive " school 
argue that when the dealer has a bad hand, he 
ought to fix the value of the game at its lowest 
point by declaring spades himself, and ought not 
to run the risk of his partner making an expensive 
declaration, when his own hand is able to render 
little or no assistance. Some of its disciples even 
go so far as to say that the dealer has no right to 

pass the declaration, unless he has a probability 

95 



DEFENSIVE SUIT DECLARATIONS 

of at least two or three tricks in his own hand. 
The other school maintain that attack only is the 
province of the dealer, and that defence should be 
left entirely to the dummy. They argue that, by 
declaring spades, the dealer not only arbitrarily 
deprives his partner of giving a proper value to his 
hand, if he should happen to have a good one, but 
that he also makes an unnecessary confession of 
weakness, and gives his opponents almost the 
same opportunities of finessing against him as 
if they had seen his cards. Certainly, nothing in 
Bridge can be more annoying than to play with 
a partner who declares a defensive spade, when 
you, as dummy, are waiting with an excep- 
tionally good hand, possibly 100 aces, or six 
or seven hearts with four by honours; but, on 
the other hand, many a game is lost on a rather 
light ~No Trump declaration by the dummy, which 
could easily have been saved if the dealer had 
had the courage to take the reins into his own 
hands. 

Both systems have their advantages, and both 
have their drawbacks, and it cannot be said that 

either is right or wrong. No end of statistics have 

96 



DEFENSIVE SUIT DECLARATIONS 

been published by the advocates of the defensive 
call to prove that their method is the right one; 
but against this there is the acknowledged fact 
that the best Bridge players of the day do not 
adopt it — in fact, at the one club, which is rec- 
ognised as the headquarters of scientific Bridge in 
London, such a call is almost unknown. The de- 
fensive declaration may almost be called the refuge 
of the second-rate player, or at any rate of the 
player playing in second-rate company, when he 
dare not pass the declaration on a bad hand for 
fear of what his partner will do. A common 
penalty which a first-rate player has to pay for 
his greatness is that indifferent partners are very 
apt to make extremely light declarations when he 
passes the call, and then to say, " I only did that 
because you had to play the cards." This is no 
doubt very complimentary, but it is also, at times, 
very expensive. A good player may be able to 
make every possible use of the cards dealt to him, 
but he cannot do conjuring tricks with them, nor 
can he give nines the value of kings or knaves the 
value of aces; when playing with such a partner 

as this, any player is fully justified in protecting 
7 97 



DEFENSIVE SUIT DECLARATIONS 

himself by taking the right of declaration away 
from his partner. 

Every Bridge player of any experience will 
recognise the sensation of heaving a sort of sigh 
of relief when his partner declares spades, after 
he has passed the call on a very bad hand. It 
would certainly seem a sound argument that a 
player should not pass the call on such a hand 
that it will be a positive relief to him to hear his 
partner declare spades. With an evenly divided 
hand, which contains no card above a ten, the 
dealer is quite justified in declaring an original 
spade, as he cannot possibly win a single trick 
with his own cards whatever his partner declares, 
and it is too much to expect his partner's hand to 
fight the other two absolutely unaided; but when 
he has any possibility, however small, of helping 
his partner he should pass the declaration on the 
chance of finding an exceptionally strong hand in 
the dummy. 

A few months ago a question was asked through 

the inquiry columns of a weekly contemporary as 

to what the dealer should do with the following 

hand : — 

98 



DEFENSIVE SUIT DECLARATIONS 

Hearts — 7, 6. 

Diamonds — None. 

Clubs — Queen, knave, 7, 5, 2. 

Spades — Queen, knave, 9, 6, 4, 3. 

The answer given was, " The dealer should declare 
spades on this hand at any point of the score." As 
has been already stated, opinions differ widely on 
this point, but it is difficult to see by what process 
of reasoning this decision could have been arrived 
at. When the dealer passes the call there are five 
declarations open to his partner, and on only one 
of these five would the above hand be without 
distinct value. If diamonds are declared, then it 
is a very bad hand, but with any other declaration 
it will win two or three tricks at least. Even if 
hearts are declared, two tricks can be made by 
ruffing the diamonds, while with ]STo Trumps or 
a black suit it would be quite a useful hand, 
therefore it surely follows that the best policy 
must be to pass the call. The time to make a 
defensive declaration is when the dealer's side has 
a strong advantage in the score, such as a game 
to the good, and possibly 12 or 18 towards the 
next game. In this case it is of such great im- 
portance not to give the opponents a chance of 

LOFC. " 



DEFENSIVE SUIT DECLARATIONS 

materially improving their position, that the dealer 
ought to make any declaration which will tend to 
keep them in check. 

To sum up the whole question — when the dealer 
has an utterly impossible hand, so that it will come 
as a positive relief to him to hear spades declared 
by his partner, then and then only ought he to 
declare spades himself; but when, at the score of 
love, he has any possible element of strength in 
his hand, however bad the rest of it may be, he 
had better pass the declaration, provided that he 
is playing with a partner he can trust. The de- 
fensive declaration is a very dangerous weapon to 
put into the hands of an inexperienced player. 



100 



CHAPTEE V 

THE DECLARATION ON A PASSED HAND 

The declaration by the dummy is a very different 

matter from the declaration by the dealer. It has 

already been laid down as a Bridge axiom, that 

the dealer, in making his declaration, is perfectly 

entitled to assume that his partner will hold an 

average hand, but the dummy is not entitled to 

this assumption, when the call has been passed 

to him. He knows for certain that his partner is 

not strong enough to declare either No Trumps 

or a red suit, and the probability is that his hand 

is below the average; still it does not necessarily 

follow that he has nothing of value. The dummy's 

first consideration should still be whether he is 

strong enough to declare No Trumps, trusting his 

partner for assistance in one or two suits, but 

always bearing in mind that his partner's hand is 

probably somewhat below the average. 
101 



DECLARATION ON A PASSED HAND 

An exposed No Trump hand, that is, a hand 
which has to be laid down on the table, requires 
to have the value of one trick more in it than a 
hand which is held up. There are two reasons for 
this : first, that the opponents will be able to see 
exactly what the declaration has been made upon 
and will attack the hand in its most vulnerable 
point at the first opportunity; and secondly, that 
the opening lead will be through the hand instead 
of up to it, which is a very important considera- 
tion. Eor instance, a singly guarded king is a 
very useful asset in a held up No Trump hand, 
as, if the attack is commenced in that suit, one 
trick at least and a useful entry early in the game 
is a certainty, but, when the singly guarded king 
is led through, it becomes of very little use indeed 
unless the ace happens to lie behind it. 

It has long been a favourite maxim of one of our 
best Bridge players that a No Trump call on a 
passed hand rarely does any good without two 
aces. This is by no means a rule; it is only an 
opinion, and it would be easy to give numerous 
imaginary instances of good sound No Trump calls 
on a passed hand with only one ace, but if any 
102 



DECLARATION ON A PASSED HAND 

one will take the trouble to watch it in actual play, 
he will be surprised to find how true it is and how 
well the maxim works out. 

Any player who elects to follow the Robert- 
sonian rule in declaring No Trumps, will do well 
to fix the figure value at 24 on a passed hand, 
instead of 21 as on an original call, which gives 
the hand the extra value of one queen. Again, 
a passed No Trump which is weak in the red suits 
is a dangerous call. The dummy's partner has 
practically told him, by passing the declaration, 
that he is not strong in the red suits, but he has 
told him nothing about the black ones, therefore 
the dummy should not hesitate to trust him for 
support in one or both of the black suits, but should 
be very shy of a doubtful No Trumper when his 
own weakness lies in the red ones. 

The following is a type of No Trump hand, with' 
which it makes all the difference whether it is 
held up by the dealer or exposed on the table by 
the dummy : — 

Hearts — Bang, 8. Clubs — Ace, queen, 9, 8, 5. 

Diamonds — Knave, 6, 4. Spades — King, knave, 3. 

103 



DECLARATION ON A PASSED HAND 

Although this is not a particularly strong hand, 
it is an undoubted No Trump when held by the 
dealer, but it would be a decidedly risky hand to 
declare No Trumps on when the declaration had 
been passed. The figure value of it, under the 
Robertsonian rule, amounts to 22, therefore it 
should be declared by the dealer but not by the 
dummy, especially as the weak spots in it are both 
in the red suits. 

The jeu de regie, or three-ace No Trump, with 
little or nothing else, applies also to the declaration 
on a passed hand. It is universally declared 
among good players, but it partakes of the nature 
of a risky call, and sometimes leads to serious dis- 
aster; still it should be done, the three certain 
cards of entry being a great element of strength if 
the partner's hand is found to contain a long suit 
of five or six cards. The dummy has a somewhat 
freer hand in declaring No Trumps, if his partner 
is known to be a player who makes a defensive 
spade declaration as dealer when he has a worth- 
less hand. Indeed, this is the strongest argument in 
favour of the defensive call, which was explained 

in the last chapter. When dummy has a difficult 
104 



DECLARATION ON A PASSED HAND 

declaration to make, it is of the greatest use to him 
to know that his partner's hand can be depended 
upon to make at least two tricks, but opinions 
differ so widely concerning the defensive declara- 
tion, that it is not safe to assume this knowledge 
unless one's partner's methods of play are thor- 
oughly understood. 

The first consideration of the dummy, when the 
declaration is passed to him, should always be 
whether he has a hand for attack or defence. 
" Badsworth " sums up this situation very con- 
cisely. He says : " If he determines to attack, 
dare he declare No Trumps ? If he feels obliged 
to defend, must it be a spade ? " It has been al- 
ready stated that dummy should always declare 
No Trumps at the score of love when his hand 
offers a fair chance of success ; failing No Trumps, 
the useful scoring suits of hearts, diamonds, and 
clubs present themselves, and they are all open to 
him. Hearts should always be declared by dummy 
on the same, or even on somewhat less, strength 
than is required to justify an original heart decla- 
ration by the dealer. Diamonds should be declared 

on considerably less strength; such hands as ace, 
105 



DECLARATION ON A PASSED HAND 

king, ten, and two other diamonds with little else, 
or five diamonds headed by king, queen, with one 
king or two queens in other suits, are undoubted 
diamond calls for the dummy, although not so for 
the dealer. The club suit also, which the dealer 
should never think of as an attacking measure, is 
often a very useful weapon in the hands of the 
dummy. 

When the dealer has the option of making a dec- 
laration, he has to consider what more valuable 
declarations his partner may make if he passes the 
call, but this consideration does not enter into the 
calculations of the dummy at all. He has no 
option in the matter, he has to make a declaration 
of some kind, and his business should be either to 
give his cards their fullest value, if he has an 
attacking hand, or to escape as cheaply as possible, 
if he has a moderate or bad hand. 

A very good general rule for the guidance of 
dummy is that he should make an expensive dec- 
laration when his hand offers a fair chance of the 
odd trick or more, with the assistance of a moder- 
ate, not an average, hand from his partner; also 

the honour score should enter more into his calcu- 
106 



DECLARATION ON A PASSED HAND 

lations than into those of the dealer. The dealer's 
game should be an attacking one, and he should 
only consider honours as trick-making factors, but 
the dummy is in a different position altogether — 
his province is defence, and when he sees but little 
chance of substantially advancing his score below 
the line he should consider whether he cannot 
benefit it above, and so minimise any possible loss. 
Eor instance, the hand quoted above — ace, king, 
10, and two other diamonds, with little or nothing 
else — is undeniably a poor hand to attack with, 
and yet it has a distinct value. In the first place, 
it is not likely to be doubled ; secondly, there is a 
certainty of 12 and a good chance of 24 for hon- 
ours, and also the strength in trumps will prevent 
the hand from being cut up, and will give an in- 
creased value to any useful cards that the partner 
may hold. 

The typical bad hand on which to make an ex- 
pensive declaration is something of this kind : — 

Hearts — Queen, 9 ; 8, 6, 3. Clubs — 10, 8, 4. 
Diamonds — Knave, 5. Spades — King, knave, 3. 

Yet this is just the sort of hand on which one con- 
stantly sees hearts declared by people who are 
107 



DECLARATION ON A PASSED HAND 

pleased to call themselves " forward players." 
They are " forward " to their own and their part- 
ner's destruction. There is absolutely no strength 
in this hand. It is worth at the very outside four 
tricks, and, if the cards happen to lie badly, only 
two or possibly even only one trick. It has four by 
honours against it, and it is extremely likely to be 
doubled, in which case the game is probably lost 
on the declarer's own deal. It is a spade call, and 
nothing but a spade call, at the score of love. 

The club suit is extremely useful to the dummy. 
It constantly offers him a haven of refuge when he 
is obliged to make a declaration on a doubtful 
hand, and it is a sort of compromise between attack 
and defence. When he holds such a hand that he 
can see a fair probability of six tricks, or even five, 
with clubs as trumps, counting on moderate assist- 
ance only from his partner, he should accept a 
little probable loss and declare clubs as the best 
chance of saving the situation, but let him not be 
deluded into declaring clubs, without the necessary 
qualification, because he is weaker still in spades. 
It is quite true that an impotent spade will prob- 
ably be doubled, and will become as expensive as 
108 



DECLARATION ON A PASSED HAND 

clubs, but it must not be forgotten that clubs may 
also be doubled, and become as expensive as hearts, 
in which case the loss may be very serious. 

The expression that one so often hears, " I could 
not declare spades, partner, because I was so weak 
in them," is an absolute confession of want of 
knowledge of the game. The spade call is the 
refuge of the dummy, and it is futile and almost 
childish to risk a more expensive declaration when 
the gain can be so small and the loss may be so 
great. 

It cannot be too often repeated that absolute 
defence is the business of the dummy when he has 
a bad hand. The value of the spades in the hand 
has nothing whatever to do with the call of spades 
— it merely means that the dummy has a moderate 
or bad hand, and that he elects to take the least 
possible loss, according to the lights vouchsafed to 
him. 

This chapter refers entirely to the declaration 
at the score of love. In the next chapter we will 
consider advanced points in the score, and the 
varying effects that the score should have on the 
declaration. 

109 



CHAPTEE VI 

THE DECLARATION TO THE SCORE 

The variations in the state of the score affect the 
game of Bridge more than any other card game. 
The correct play of the cards often alters mate- 
rially when only one or two tricks are required to 
win the game, and still more often should the 
declaration be influenced by the fact that the de- 
claring side is within a few points of the desired 
total. It must obviously be foolish to run any 
undue risk on the chance of making a big score 
when there appears a practical certainty of win- 
ning the game on a cheap declaration. Winning 
or losing the rubber makes a difference of 200 
points, and winning one game is about two-fifths 
of the way towards winning the rubber, and there- 
fore represents, roughly speaking, about 80 points. 
Surely this is too great a difference to risk for the 
sake of possibly scoring a few more points either 

above or below the line. 

110 



THE DECLARATION TO THE SCORE 

A notable instance of this once occurred to the 
present writer. The declaration was passed to him 
at the score of a game and 28 in his favour, against 
one game. The hand was — 

Hearts — King, queen. 

Diamonds — Ace, king, 7. 

Clubs — Queen. 

Spades — Ace, king, queen, knave, 7, 5, 2. 

He declared spades, and, of course, the game 

and rubber were won. It so happened that there 

was rather a large gallery of critical onlookers, 

and when the hand was put down it was greeted 

with a chorus of uncomplimentary remarks — 

" Well, of all the cowards " " What do you 

expect ? " "A ISFo Trump at any point of the 

score," etc., etc. When the cards were played it 

turned out that the leader had six clubs headed 

by king, knave, while his partner had the ace and 

two other clubs and the ace of hearts, so that the 

odd trick must have been lost at No Trumps. It 

is worth noticing that, when the declarer has an 

evenly divided hand, that is, a hand containing 

three cards of every suit, the other hands will in 

all probability be constituted in very much the 

111 



THE DECLARATION TO THE SCORE 

same manner, but when the declarer has one very 
long suit in his own hand he must be fully pre- 
pared to find an uneven distribution of the cards 
and possibly an equally long suit in the leader's 
hand. 

Any original declaration which presents a chance 
of winning the game from the score of love must, 
a fortiori, present an increased chance of doing 
so at a more advanced point of the score, and any 
suit declaration which is a sound one for the dealer 
to make at the score of love will also be sound at 
any other point of the score. When the dealer's 
score is at 12 or 18, the objection to an original 
diamond declaration disappears altogether. Only 
two or three by cards are now required to win 
the game, and that should be well within the 
compass of a good diamond hand; also the con- 
sideration of whether his partner may be able to 
make a more expensive declaration does not now 
concern him at all. Whenever the dealer can see 
a fair chance of winning the game on any decla- 
ration, even if it is only in spades, he should make 
that declaration without hesitation, quite regard- 
less of the fact that his partner may have a much 
112 



THE DECLARATION TO THE SCORE 

more valuable suit on which the game would also 
be won. Winning the game should always be the 
first consideration. 

The ~No Trump declaration by the dealer is not 
affected by any point in the score under 20, ex- 
cept in the case of what is known as the One Suit 
!No Trump. Six or seven clubs, headed by the 
ace, king, queen, and another ace, is a recognised 
No Trump call early in the game; but if the 
dealer's score is at anything over 12 he should 
declare clubs, and trust to his partner for the 
extra one or two tricks required to win the game. 
When the dealer has a fairly good hand, protected 
in every suit, but with no great strength in any 
particular one, he would not hesitate to declare 
No Trumps at the score of love ; but at the score 
of 22 or 24 he should pass the declaration for his 
partner to declare his best suit, rather than risk 
disaster if his partner's hand should be very bad. 

There are two kinds of declaration to the score 
by the dealer. The safe call when the declaring 
side is well ahead and tries to make certain of 
winning the game without taking any undue risks, 
and the call of desperation, when the opponents 

8 113 



THE DECLARATION TO THE SCORE 

are almost certain to win the rubber on their next 
deal, and it becomes necessary to take even the 
most forlorn hope of snatching the game out of 
the fire. In the latter case, the dealer should 
declare ISTo Trumps on the flimsiest of pretexts, 
say two aces, or one ace and two kings, or mod- 
erate protection in three suits. Failing a possi- 
bility of No Trumps, the dealer should always 
pass the declaration with his opponents at 24 or 
more and a game up, unless of course he has such 
a heart or diamond hand that there is a possibility 
of winning the game. 

With the score at a game and 24 to love against 
the dealer, he should not think of making an or- 
dinary red suit declaration, but, if he is not in 
a position to make a dash for the game himself, 
he should leave it to his partner, so as to take 
every chance of saving the situation, if it is in any 
way possible. When the opponents are 24 up, 
without a game to their credit, the situation is 
quite different. This is an occasion for extra 
caution on the dealer's part, so as to give the other 
side as little chance as possible of winning the 
game on that hand. 

114 



THE DECLARATION TO THE SCORE 

The state of the score affects the declaration by 
the dummy much more than it affects that of the 
dealer. When the score of declaring side is well 
advanced, say to 24 against the opponents' love, 
the dealer will make any declaration which is 
likely to score the necessary 6 points, but if he 
does not see a good chance of doing this- he at 
once shifts the responsibility on to his partner's 
shoulders by passing the call. The unhappy 
dummy is then obliged to declare something, and 
his position is often very difficult. 

If he has either a good hand or a very bad one 
there is little or no difficulty, but there comes the 
sort of intermediate hand, with a chance of win- 
ning the game on a bold declaration, and an equal 
or greater chance of turning a strong position into 
a very weak one, if his effort misses fire. 

It is very difficult to know what to do at the 

score of a game and 24, against a game and love, 

with such a hand as — . .: .; 

Hearts — Knave, 8, 6. Clubs — 9, 5. 

Diamond,, — King, 9, 7, 4, 3. Spades — King, 10, 6. 

At the score of love the dummy should declare 
spades on this hand, but with his score at 24 he has 

115 



THE DECLARATION TO THE SCORE 

to make up his mind whether to have a dash for 
the required six points by declaring diamonds, or 
whether to fall back on the safety spade. On the 
one hand there is a distinct chance of winning the 
game and rubber, and on the other hand there is 
the fact staring him in the face that his opponents 
will double diamonds very readily at this point of 
score, and the game may be lost instead of being 
won. With the opponents at love, the spade dec- 
laration is better on this hand, as the opponents 
are not likely to double or to win three by cards, 
and they will want a big hand to win the game on 
their next deal; but if they are at 16 or 18, a dash 
for the game ought to be made while it is yet 
possible. 

Not long ago the declaration was left to dummy 
with the following hand, score a game and 24, 
against a game and 12 : — 

Hearts — 3. Clubs — Queen, 10, 6, 2. 

Diamonds — King, queen, 9, 5. Spades — Ace, 10, 7, 4. 

He declared diamonds, was doubled, and lost the 

game and rubber. The only declaration which 

would have won the trick was clubs, and clubs 

116 



THE DECLARATION TO THE SCORE 

was probably the right declaration. The oppo- 
nents will not double clubs without overwhelming 
strength at the score of 24, and also the king, 
queen of diamonds are very useful cards, with 
clubs as trumps. The declarer was no doubt in- 
fluenced by the fact that one trick won the game in 
diamonds, whereas it required two tricks in clubs, 
but his declaration cost him the rubber. 

Yet another difficult hand has been much dis- 
cussed lately. The score was a game all, and 16 
all. Dummy held — 

Hearts — Ace, king, 7. Clubs — 10, 8, 6. 

Diamonds — Ace, queen, 9, 3. Spades — 9, 7, 3. 

He declared No Trumps and won the game, which, 
however, proves nothing. The declaration was 
very much criticised by the bystanders, and the 
declarer offered to bet that it was the right call at 
the score. He was promptly accommodated, and 
it was agreed to ask the committee of the Portland 
Club to decide the question. The Portland com- 
mittee, however, do not adjudicate on questions of 
play, only on the interpretations of the rules, and 

it was therefore left to five well-known players. 
117 



THE DECLARATION TO THE SCORE 

Pour of them said that the declaration was right 
at the score, and the one dissentient said spades. 

It is an undoubted spade call at love all, but, 
with the opponents 16 up in the last game, some 
extra risk must be taken. Also, the spades are 
very weak, and unless the partner has some 
strength in that suit, the opponents are almost 
certain to win two or three tricks which will 
put them in a fine position. If the declarer's 
partner has strength in spades it must be a fair 
No Trump. 

One suggestion made was diamonds, but that 
does not bear looking into. With diamonds as 
trumps the hand is worth little over four tricks, 
say four and a half, and nine tricks are wanted 
to win the game; therefore the declarer is asking 
his partner to do as much as he does himself, and 
guessing at his suit. When the declaration is left 
to the dummy at the score of games all and 24 
all, he must declare his best suit even if it is no 
better than king and three others. There is now 
no question of defence, and he must declare the 
suit in which he can give his partner most assist- 
ance, quite regardless of the fact that a few extra 
118 



THE DECLARATION TO THE SCORE 

points will probably be lost by so doing. It is the 
case of a drowning man snatching at a straw. 

When the opponents are a game and 24 up, it is 
a time to take even the most forlorn hope, and the 
wildest No Trumps become reasonable in a de- 
spairing effort to retrieve the position, but when 
the opponents are 24 in the first game, or still more 
strongly when the declaring side is a game to the 
good, the position is entirely reversed, and it be- 
comes a position for defence. 

The most common of all the mistakes at Bridge 
is to confuse these two positions. Almost every 
day one sees a wild ~No Trump declaration made 
because the opponents are at 24 or more in the first 
game, and then, when the inevitable disaster has 
occurred, the declarer says, " I am sorry, partner, 
but it was a declaration to the score." It is not 
a declaration to the score, it is exactly the opposite ; 
but this is a fact that some players seem absolutely 
incapable of comprehending. 

It cannot be too much insisted upon that, when 

the opponents are 24 or more up, without a game 

to their credit, is the time for a backward policy, 

not a forward one. This is the time when a de- 
119 



THE DECLARATION TO THE SCORE 

fensive declaration by the dealer, if he has a bad 
hand himself, is not only justifiable, but almost 
compulsory. Look what a difference it entails. If 
the opponents can win the game on his deal, they 
are in a fine position. They have the first deal in 
the next game, with one game to their credit, and 
it is well within the bounds of possibility that they 
may win the next game and the rubber straight 
away. But if they can be kept back, the position 
is entirely different. They may now have to 
utilise a ~No Trump hand to win the requisite 6, or 
4, or 2 points, and when they have won it, the 
other side will have the first deal, with all its 
attendant possibilities, in the next game. More- 
over, they are not certain to win the game on their 
own deal. Many and many a game is saved when 
the dealer is 24 or more up. It is undoubtedly a 
very desirable position to have the deal with 24 
points already to your credit, but it is by no means 
a certainty. On the contrary, it is a position of 
some danger. Your opponents are in a fine posi- 
tion to double any expensive declaration, and you 
may depend upon it that they will not hesitate to 

do so upon the slightest pretext, and you may find 
120 



THE DECLARATION TO THE SCORE 

your fine position suddenly changing into one of 
great danger. It is a great mistake to abandon 
hope because your opponents are within a few 
points of game. It is just those last few points 
which are often so difficult to get. Above all 
things, never make a desperate declaration because 
your opponents are 24 up, unless they have already 
won a game. Do just the opposite; make an 
original spade on your own hand as dealer, or 
declare anything which is likely to prevent their 
winning the game on your deal. When they are 
a game and 24 up the position is indeed des- 
perate, and desperate measures must be resorted 
to, but even this should be tempered with reason. 
If there is any possible chance of saving the situ- 
ation, that chance should be taken, however for- 
lorn a hope it may be, but it is folly to incur extra 
loss by an absolutely wild declaration, without 
some reasonable chance of success. On the sad 
ocasions when you can see that you have got to 
die, die as cheaply as possible, and with a good 
grace. 



121 



CHAPTER VII 

DOUBLING 

Nothing in the game of Bridge appeals so strongly 
to the fancy of the inexperienced player as the 
privilege afforded to him of doubling the decla- 
ration, and he is always looking out for oppor- 
tunities of exercising this privilege. The more 
experienced player, on the other hand, is very 
chary of exercising it, and it requires something 
extra good to induce him to double an original 
declaration made by a trustworthy opponent. If 
he has a good hand, on which he can see a cer- 
tainty of saving the game, and a possibility of 
increasing his own score, he accepts that blessing 
with gratitude, and does not risk converting a 
secure position into an insecure one by a rash 
double. It must not be understood from this that 
a player should never double on anything short of 
a certainty — there are occasions when it would 

amount to a very backward policy not to do so, 
122 



DOUBLING 

but he should always remember, that doubling 
is attended by two grave dangers. In the first 
place, the matter does not end with the doubler, 
his opponents have the option cf re-doubling, and 
he may find himself in the unpleasant position of 
losing a game which he had an absolute certainty 
of saving if he had restrained his ardour. Sec- 
ondly, doubling a suit declaration gives enormous 
assistance to the player of the two hands. It tells 
him exactly where the strength in trumps lies, 
which is the very thing that he wants to know, and 
which it should be the policy of his opponents to 
conceal from him by every means in their power. 

In the early days of Bridge doubling was far 
more common than it is at the present day, partly 
because the principles of declaring were not thor- 
oughly understood, and some players 5 declarations 
used to be very wild and unsound, and partly be- 
cause in those days certain players imagined that 
there was a sort of poker element in the game and 
that it was possible to bluff with success. Expe- 
rience very soon proved that any attempt at bluff- 
ing had. a way of recoiling sharply on the head of 
the would-be bluffer, and the recognised declara- 

123 



DOUBLING 

tions are now so well known that the opportunities 
of doubling are by no means common. 

As there are two distinct games at Bridge, the 
No Trump game and the suit game, so there are 
two distinct forms of the double, doubling ~No 
Trumps and doubling a suit declaration. The 
double of ~No Trumps again must be divided under 
two heads, doubling with the lead and doubling as 
third player. 

Doubling with the lead is comparatively simple. 
If the leader has seven certain or extremely prob- 
able tricks he should always double. Seven of a 
suit headed by ace, king, queen, or six headed by 
ace, king, queen, and another ace, are doubling 
hands. Some players do not double with the latter 
combination, as they say that the odd trick is a 
certainty if their long suit is good, and that, if it 
is not good, they may lose the game by doubling. 
There is reason in this argument, but experience 
teaches us that instances of a game, which could 
have been saved, being lost by this double are very 
rare, whereas there is a strong probability of the 
doubler advancing his score to the very useful 

point of 24, besides the considerable chance of 
124 



DOUBLING 

winning the game. Players who do not take snch 
a chance as this when it offers itself are unlikely to 
win much at the game. It is not sound to double 
!No Trumps with six certain tricks, and then to 
say that you only trusted your partner for one 
trick. What do you imagine that the dealer de- 
clared !No Trumps on? The probability is that, 
when your six tricks are accounted for, the dealer 
will put down his cards and say, " The rest are 
mine,", thereby scoring 24 instead of 12, and that 
point of 24 is such a very important one, either to 
get to yourself or to keep your opponents from 
reaching. It need hardly be said that, if the 
dealer's score is at 18 or more, the leader should 
not hesitate to double on six tricks, as it is prac- 
tically immaterial whether the other side score 
12 or 24, when 12 will win the game. 

AVhen the leader doubles No Trumps on one 
long suit, and is re-doubled by the declarer, he 
ought not to re-double again on anything short of 
an absolute certainty. He should remember that 
any distribution of the cards, however improbable, 
is always possible. Even if he hold eight of one 

suit, headed by ace, king, queen, it is quite pos- 
125 



DOUBLING 

sible that four of the remaining five cards may be 
in one hand, and when the declarer, being a sound 
player, re-doubles, the inferences point strongly 
to their being so placed. 

Certain players may recollect an instance of this 
which occurred in actual play a few years ago. 
]STo Trumps was declared by the dealer, the eldest 
hand doubled, holding ace, king, queen, and four 
other clubs, and the ace and queen of diamonds. 
The dealer re-doubled and the process was con- 
tinued up to the maximum of 100 points. 

The dealer's hand was — 

Hearts — Ace. 

Diamond — King, 6. 

Clubs — Knave, 7, 5, 2. 

Spades — Aee, king, queer, knave, 4, 2. 

The leader led out his three winning clubs and 
then another one, hoping to come in with his ace 
of diamonds, but he never got another trick and 
lost four by cards amounting to 400 points. The 
dummy had two winning hearts and the ten and a 
small spade. The first double was not only per- 
fectly sound but a very strong one ; when it was 
re-doubled, however, the original doubler ought to 

126 



DOUBLING 

have realised that the dealer must be guarded in 
every suit. 

As to doubling a call of ~No Trumps without the 
lead, that is, as third player, there exists a wide 
difference of opinion. English Bridge players are, 
at the present time, divided into two distinct 
parties, the one adopting the American, or Heart 
Convention, and the other adhering to the original 
English method, now known as the Short-suit 
Convention. 

From the earliest days of Bridge it has been the 
custom in England for the third player to double 
a declaration of No Trumps, whether made by 
the dealer or the dummy, when he holds one long- 
established suit of seven or at least six cards. If 
he does not double on such a hand, there is no 
chance of his suit being led, and he will probably 
be obliged to discard from it, and may possibly 
never make a single trick in it; therefore he 
doubles on the chance of his partner being able to 
guess which suit he has doubled on, and to lead it 
at once. In answer to such a double the leader 
should sacrifice his own hand altogether and play 
entirely for his partner's. If he has an ace he 

127 



DOUBLING 

should lead it out aud have a look at the exposed 
hand, when he will generally be able to locate the 
required suit, especially if the call has been made 
by the dummy. 'Not having an ace, he should lead 
the highest card of his weakest suit; his weak- 
est suit meaning, not necessarily the numerically 
weakest, but a suit in which he holds no high card ; 
also, cceteris paribus, giving preference to a red 
suit over a black one. The reason of this is easy 
to see ; his partner has obviously doubled on entire 
command of one suit, therefore it cannot be a suit 
of which he, the leader, holds a high card, such as 
ace, king, or queen, and it is more likely to be a 
red suit than a black one, as the declarer would 
have preferred a suit declaration to a risky No 
Trump if he had been very strong in either red 
suit. This is called the Short-suit Convention. 
The Heart Convention is that the third hand 
only doubles when he wants a heart led to him, 
and it is obligatory on the leader, under this 
convention, to lead his hearts, from the highest 
downwards, however many he may hold. It is 
now the universal custom to ask one's partner, 
before commencing a rubber, which party he 
128 



DOUBLING 

belongs to, and this precaution should never be 
neglected. 

Both systems have their merits. The heart con- 
vention ensures the success of the double, but it 
narrows the field very much, and a player is only 
able to double once, under this convention, for 
four times that he can do so under the short-suit 
convention, leaving out the very rare occasions 
when he will have a long-established suit, and a 
certain entry card in hearts as well. On the other 
hand the short-suit doubler is by no means certain 
to get his desired suit led to him. The leader may 
be in doubt between two or more suits and lead 
the wrong one, or it occasionally happens that he 
is entirely void of his partner's suit and cannot 
lead it, in which case severe disaster will prob- 
ably occur. To players of the mathematical 
order, who object to taking chances, and wish to 
make the game as nearly a scientific certainty 
as possible, the heart convention commends itself 
strongly, and such players invariably adopt it ; but 
to the real lovers of the game the speculative ele- 
ment in it is one of its greatest charms, and these 

are adherents of the old short-suit convention. 
9 129 



DOUBLING 

One curious point about the two systems is that, 
whereas many English players now adopt the 
American system, a considerable number of the 
Americans, who have been over here and played 
with us, say that they prefer our system, and some 
of them, on their return to the other side, have 
introduced the short-suit convention at their clubs. 
The heart convention has a minor disadvantage, 
which none of the learned writers on the subject 
have touched upon. It may be taken for granted 
that the opponents know that the doubler is a 
heart conventionist, and the dealer is sometimes 
in a grand position to re-double when he knows 
for certain that the first card led will be a heart. 

Suppose he has declared No Trumps on seven 
winning spades and the ace of hearts, the third 
hand doubles on a long suit of hearts and one or 
both of the other aces, the dealer can re-double 
with the greatest certainty when he knows that a 
heart will be led, but he would not dare to do so 
against the short-suit convention. 

It is sometimes very difficult for the leader to 

know what to lead with the short-suit system, and 

he simply has to guess, but generally speaking he 
130 



DOUBLING 

will have a king or a queen in one or more suits, 

which will limit his area of guesswork very much. 

The following curious case recently occurred. 

The dealer declared ISTo Trumps, and the third 

hand doubled. The leader's hand was — 

Hearts — 6. Clubs — 9, 8, 7. 

Diamonds — Queen, 6, 4, 2. Spades — Knave, 8, 6, 5, 2. 

He naturally was £?ing to lead the 6 of hearts, but 

the dummy re-doubied, ~:hich put quite a different 

aspect on affairs. The leader argued to himself, 

" My partner's suit must be either hearts or clubs, 

presumably hearts, but dummy would never have 

re-doubled without some strength in hearts," so, 

in fear and trembling, he led the 9 of clubs, and 

he was right. His partner had seven clubs with 

the quart major, and they won the game. 

There is a curious analogy between the heart 

convention and the defensive spade declaration 

by the dealer (see page 95). The player who is 

in favour of the one is almost certain to be an 

advocate of the other. They are both prompted 

by the same idea — a desire to make the game as 

nearly a mathematical certainty as is possible, 

and to leave little or nothing to chance, taking no 
131 



DOUBLING 

risks which can be avoided. It has been fre- 
quently demonstrated by theoretical writers on 
the subject that these backward tactics show a 
profit — on paper — in the long run ; that is, 
over a large number of hands, but each rubber 
must be judged on its own merits, and a rubber of 
Bridge is not a question of a large number of 
hands. It is a very short affair, so that if a 
player does not take every chance that presents 
itself of materially increasing his score, the rubber 
will probably be over before another such chance 
presents itself. 

The advocates of the safe game do not seem to 
recognise this view of the situation, and they occa- 
sionally find themselves in the position of a man 
who has been waiting behind, and reserving his 
energies, in a short distant race. He may be full 
of running, and capable of doing great things, 
but the race is over, he has lost his chance, and 
the man who has made every post a winning post 
has beaten him, as he always will do. 

After the publication of the above article we 

received a most interesting letter from Mr. K. H. 

Cunnington, analysing the respective chances rep- 
132 



DOUBLING 

resented by the double of a No Trump call under 
the heart convention and under the short-suit 
convention. 

This letter is so much to the point, that we 
cannot do better than quote it verbatim. 

"May 29th, 1905. 
" To the Editor of the Saturday Review. 

" Sir, — In the article on doubling ~No Trumps as 
third player in Bridge, it is unfortunate that the 
author has given no definite help to those uncertain 
whether to adopt the heart convention or the short- 
suit convention, nor is any reasonable analysis given 
in the text-books. 

"Playing in the short-suit convention the third 
hand should not double unless he has ace, king, queen, 
and four others at least of a suit. This gives him a 
practical certainty of winning the odd trick if the 
suit is led, and makes it probable that the suit will 
be led. His partner is guided in his choice of suits 
by knowing that no suit in which he has an ace, king, 
or queen is right. 

" The relative advantages of the heart convention 

and short-suit convention can be best discussed as 

a matter of mathematical probabilities. A player 

using the former can only double if he has the ace 

133 



DOUBLING 

of hearts, either included or in addition to his long 
suit. A long suit of seven, with ace, king, queen, 
under these conditions is only obtained once in 600 
times, but when it does occur he will almost certainly 
obtain the odd trick (i.e., eleven times in twelve). 
The dealer, however, is not so likely to declare No 
Trumps with an ace in addition to a whole suit 
against him, and practically the chance is still more 
remote. The doubler's long suit will be hearts only 
once in 900 times. Once in 800 times he will be jus- 
tified in doubling with ace, king, queen, and three of 
a suit, with the ace of hearts; but in one in five of 
these times the suit will be blocked by an adversary. 
Summarising: on 2,400 occasions he can double four 
times with an eleven to one chance of winning, and 
three times with a four to one chance, or seven times 
in all. 

" On the other hand if the short-suit convention 
is played, the opportunity of doubling — i. e., having 
ace, king, queen, and four others of a suit — occurs 
once in a little over 200 times, or nearly twice as 
often as under the hearts convention. It is not quite 
so safe, but the risk of a wrong lead is small, because 
in twelve cases where No Trumps are thus doubled, 
ten cases will find the leader with one, two, or three 
of the suit, and eight cases will find him with only 
134 



DOUBLING 

one or two. Then, bearing in mind that the leader 
must not choose a suit in which he has an ace, king, 
or queen, it is clear that almost certainly in eight 
cases, and probably in ten, the right suit will be led. 
If led it is eleven to one that the doubler will win the 
odd trick. 

" Summarising, on 2,400 occasions he has an 
opportunity of doubling twelve times, and although 
in only eight of these times can he be almost certain 
of winning, he has a very fair probability in two 
more. In the other two cases he probably loses, as his 
partner has either ncne or more than three of his suit. 

" I think most players will agree that the adoption 
of the short-suit convention is worth the risk; but, 
to double, the third hand must have ace, king, and 
queen, with four of a suit. I remain, 
"Yours faithfully, 

"E. N". CUNNINGTON." 

We do not quite agree with the writer's theory 

that the third hand should not double unless he 

has ace, king, queen, and four others of a suit. 

With the adversaries' score at love, we should 

always double as third player with ace, king, 

queen, and three others. The odd trick is by no 

means ensured, if the required suit is led and is 
135 



DOUBLING 

good ; but the saving of the game is then ensured, 
and it is very likely that another trick may be 
squeezed out of it. The great object of doubling 
with such a hand is to save the game, and the con- 
sideration that the adversaries may get to 24 should 
weigh very lightly against the chance of prevent- 
ing them from winning those coveted three tricks. 

In the article to which Mr. Cunnington refers, 
special prominence was purposely not given to 
one system over the other. Both systems are ex- 
tensively practised among London players at the 
present time, and it was thought better to set forth 
the advantages and disadvantages of both impar- 
tially, although our own sympathies are strongly 
in favour of the short-suit convention. Mr. Cun- 
nington's valuable analyses, which we have never 
seen published before, tend to prove that this con- 
vention is the better, and his figures altogether 
do away with the theory, which is often advanced 
by the opponents of the short-suit convention, 
that, when a player doubles, it is 2 to 1 against 
the desired suit being led. According to Mr. 
Cunnington's figures it works out at something 

like 4 to 1 on it, instead of odds against it. 
136 



DOUBLING 

We have now to consider the question of dou- 
bling a suit declaration. To double an original 
suit declaration made by a reliable player re- 
quires very great strength, and it is a compara- 
tively rare occurrence among experienced players. 
There are many occasions when it could be done 
with success, but the opponents of the dealer are 
quite in the dark as to what amount of strength 
he has, and it must be remembered that any com- 
bination of the cards, however improbable, is 
always possible. A very extraordinary instance 
of this once occurred in actual play. 

The dealer declared hearts, and the player on 
his left doubled, holding — 

Hearts — Ace, king, queen, knave, 10. 

Diamonds — Ace, kiug, 7. 

Clubs — 10, 9. 

Spades — Ace, king, knave. 

The dealer re-doubled and it was continued up to 
the maximum of 100 points. 
The dealer's hand was — 

Hearts — 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. 
Diamonds — None. 
Clubs — Ace, king, queen, 7, 2. 
Spades — None. 

137 



DOUBLING 

The result was that the dealer won two by cards, 
the doubler making nothing but his five best 
trumps. This was a justifiable double if ever 
there was one, and it looked as nearly a certainty 
as it is possible to get; but it only shows what 
extraordinary combinations do occur at times and 
how careful one ought to be. Doubling a suit 
declaration gives very useful information to the 
dealer, inasmuch as it tells him where the strength 
in trumps lies, and enables him to regulate his 
game accordingly. It may be taken as a sound 
general rule that the act of doubling will give an 
advantage to the dealer of one trick at least in 
the play of the cards ; therefore if a player doubles 
and wins the odd trick, he has gained nothing by 
his double, as he would have won two by cards 
without the double. It is a most unsound pro- 
ceeding to double one suit because you are strong 
in the others. If you have four trumps with two 
honours, and a very good playing hand, it may be 
right to double because you have good protection 
in the trump suit, but to double with only three 
trumps, however good the rest of the hand may 

be, is fraught with great danger. 

138 



DOUBLING 

A declaration made by dummy may be doubled 
much more readily. The dummy is obliged to 
make a declaration when the call is left to him, 
and sometimes it has to be a very forced one ; also 
it is known that the dealer has not a very good 
hand, and again, it is sometimes very important 
for the third player to have a trump led, which 
he can only ensure by doubling the declaration. 
Spades are doubled far more often than any other 
suit, because the spade call does not necessarily 
mean strength in the spade suit, but is a declara- 
tion of weakness and may mean absolute impo- 
tence. A spade call should be doubled with great 
strength in other suits and only two or three 
spades. Occasionally one gets caught at it and is 
re-doubled on a long spade suit, but at the score of 
love all it is so very important to get to the point 
of 6 on one's opponent's deal, that it is worth while 
to take a little risk in one's endeavour to do so. 

Thus, doubling an original red-suit declaration 
cannot be recommended on anything very short 
of a certainty. The last word does not rest with 
the doubler; he may be re-doubled by the dealer 
or by the dealer's partner, and very often the 
139 



DOUBLING 

dealer's partner has a considerable voice in the 
matter. The partner of the dealer, provided that 
he knows him to be a sound declarer, should always 
be on the look-out for an opportunity to re-double, 
when an original red-suit declaration is doubled. 
The value of the trumps in his hand should be a 
very small consideration. If he can see three 
tricks in his own hand, say an ace of one suit and 
ace, king of another, he should re-double without 
hesitation. The trump suit is plainly divided 
between the dealer and the doubler, and three 
tricks from the dealer's partner ought easily to 
turn the scale. This is an opportunity which is 
frequently missed, but an observant player will 
always be prepared to seize it when it presents 
itself. 



140 



CHAPTEE VIII 

THE ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 
DECLARATION 

Quite the most important point in the whole 
gamut of Bridge, and at the same time one of the 
most difficult, is the original or blind lead before 
the dummy's hand is exposed on the table. So 
much frequently depends upon this opening lead, 
and the leader has so little to guide him. Like 
most other points of Bridge, this question divides 
itself into two branches, the lead against a No 
Trump declaration, and the lead against a suit 
declaration. These two branches are quite dis- 
tinct from each other, and the correct lead in 
either case is governed by entirely different prin- 
ciples. Let us first consider the lead against a 
No T.ump call. 

It is a hard and fast rule that, when No Trumps 
are declared, the leader must open his numerically 

strongest suit, and this is a rule from which there 
141 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

should be no departure, unless under very excep- 
tional circumstances. There must now be no 
leading out a winning card to have a look round. 
Every possible card of entry is of such great value 
that it is a fatal mistake to sacrifice one for the 
sake of that " look round," which may or may not 
be of any use. When the dealer declares a gen- 
uine ISTo Trump, the opponents are strictly on the 
defensive, and the best that they can hope for is 
to establish one long suit, and to win tricks with 
the small cards of that suit, by the aid of any 
other cards of re-entry which they may hold, and 
all their united energies should be devoted to this 
purpose. In no province of the game of Bridge 
does the combination of the two defending hands 
come in so strongly as when playing against a No 
Trump declaration, therefore the leader ought to 
be careful to give his partner all the information 
that is possible by his first lead. Not only is it 
important that the original lead should always be 
from the leader's numerically strongest suit, but 
also it is very important that every player should 
thoroughly understand the accepted leads from the 

different combinations of cards. These leads are 
142 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

clearly defined, and there is remarkably little diver- 
gence in the tables quoted in the various textbooks 
by different authors. 

The following will be found substantially 
correct. 

Against a No Trump declaration, from a suit 
headed by — 

Ace, king, queen lead Queen, followed 

by king. 

Ace, king, with five others " King. 

Ace, king, with less than five others . . " Fourth-best. 

Ace, king, knave, with a card of entry . . " King. 

Ace, king, knave, without a card of entry " Fourth-best. 

Ace, queen, knave " Queen. 

Ace, queen " Fourth-best. 

Ace, knave, ten " Knave. 

Ace, and any other combination " Fourth-best. 

King, queen, knave, and one other .... " King, followed 

by queen. 

King, queen, knave, and two or more 

others " Knave, followed 

by queen. 

King, queen, with five others " King. 

King, queen, with less than five others " Fourth-best. 

King, knave, ten " Knave. 

Queen, knave, ten " Queen. 

Queen, knave " Fourth-best. 

Knave, ten, nine, or lower sequence . . " Highest of se- 
quence. 

Any other combination " Fourth-best. 

H3 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

These are the ordinary accepted leads of everyday 
Bridge, and it behoves every would-be Bridge 
player to learn them thoroughly by heart, so that 
he will be in no doubt about the right card to lead 
when he is eldest hand, and also, conversely, so 
that he will be able to judge correctly, from the 
card led by his partner, what is the strength or 
weakness of his partner's hand. For instance, 
when a knave is led, the leader's partner should 
know that it is either from ace, knave, ten, or 
king, knave, ten, or from a sequence headed by 
the knave, and, in the majority of cases, an obser- 
vation of his own and the dummy's cards will 
enable him accurately to place the missing cards. 
In the case of the lead from king, knave, ten, 
some players adopt the old whist lead of the ten 
instead of the knave, and it is probably the better 
lead, inasmuch as it distinguishes between ace, 
knave, ten, and king, knave, ten, but the knave 
is the generally accepted lead from either com- 
bination, so it is better to abide by it, but all the 
same a player should be prepared to read the 
lead of a ten as being probably from king, knave, 

ten, and others. 

144 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

A lead which is absolutely peculiar to Bridge, 
and a very necessary one to understand, is from 
ace, queen, knave, and others, with no card of 
re-entry. The whist lead from this combination, 
and also the correct lead at Bridge against a suit 
declaration, is the ace, followed by the queen, but 
in the No Trump game the queen is the correct 
and only lead. When the leader holds ace, queen, 
knave, and two or more others, it is highly im- 
probable that his partner will have more than two 
of the suit, so that, if he leads out the ace and 
queen, the suit is established after the second 
round, but it is rendered absolutely useless by the 
fact that his partner cannot put him in again. 
The lead of the queen, on the other hand, offers 
great possibilities. If the dealer holds the king 
he wins the first trick with it and the suit is 
cleared. If the king and two others are in dummy, 
he will allow the queen to win, and the knave is 
then led, putting the dealer badly on the horns 
of a dilemma. He is in great doubt whether to 
treat the lead as being from queen, knave, ten, 
in which case the ace in the third hand must 

block the suit, or whether to play the king second 
10 145 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

in hand on the chance of the lead being from ace, 
queen, knave, and he is very liable to read it 
wrong. If the third hand holds the king, singly 
guarded, he should always play it on the queen 
led, and, if it wins, return the suit at once. If 
he holds king and two others, he should pass the 
first trick and play his king on the second round, 
whatever card is led, so as to get out of his part- 
ner's way. 

Whenever the leader has to lead a small card 
against a No Trump declaration, he should be 
particularly careful to lead his fourth-best. Never 
let him think that it does not matter which of his 
small cards he leads, when they are apparently 
equally valueless — it matters a great deal to an 
intelligent partner. The object of the fourth-best 
lead is to enable his partner to apply the Eleven 
Rule. What Bridge player is there who has not 
heard of the Eleven Rule ? and how few thor- 
oughly understand it! The Eleven Rule is one 
of the few valuable legacies bequeathed by scien- 
tific whist to skilful Bridge. Note the distinction 
between the two adjectives. Whereas whist was 

a game of elaborated science and combination, 
146 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

Bridge is a game of individual skill, common 
sense, and observation. In the early days of whist 
the original lead was always the lowest card of 
the leader's longest suit, irrespective of numbers, 
then came the lead of the penultimate to show 
five, then " Cavendish " introduced the ante- 
penultimate lead to show six, and from that, 
some ingenious mortal, whose name is not given 
to posterity, evolved the idea of the fourth-best 
lead and the " Eleven Rule." 

The Eleven Rule is that, when a player leads 
his fourth-best card of a suit, if the value of the 
card led is deducted from eleven, the remainder 
gives the number of cards, higher than the one 
led, which are not in the leader's hand. At first 
sight it is difficult to see why the figure should 
be eleven, but the explanation is quite simple. 
The ace being the highest card instead of the 
lowest, the value of the cards in each suit does 
not run from one to thirteen, but from two, the 
lowest card, to fourteen, that being the real value 
given to the ace, by placing it higher than the 
king, counting the knave as eleven, the queen as 
twelve, and the king as thirteen. It is obvious, 
147 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

therefore, that the number of cards in the suit, 
higher than the one led, will be the difference 
between the value of that card and fourteen. 
Three of these high cards being known to be in the 
leader's hand, the number that is against him is 
at once reduced to eleven — hence the Eleven Rule. 
Useful as the Eleven Rule was at whist, it is far 
more useful at Bridge, because the third player 
has the extra advantage of seeing the dummy's 
cards in addition to his own. 

Suppose that a 7 is led, the third hand holds 
queen, 8, 4, and the dummy puts down knave, 6, 5. 
By an easy application of the Eleven Rule, the 
third hand can see at once that the dealer has one 
card, and one only, of that suit higher than the 7, 
and, if the dealer has made the declaration of No 
Trumps, there is a strong supposition that his one 
high card is either the ace or king, therefore the 
third hand should pass the 7 led, and if his suppo- 
sition is correct, the suit is established. If the 
third player did not understand the Eleven Rule, 
he would naturally play his highest, the queen, 
third hand, the dealer would win it with his 

ace or king, and would be free to go on with 
148 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

his own game, leaving the knave guarded in 
dummy to stop his opponent's suit on the third 
round. 

This is where the great advantage of the fourth- 
best lead and the Eleven Rule comes in. It does 
occasionally happen that the application of the 
Eleven Rule discloses to the third player the fact 
that the dealer has no card in his hand capable of 
beating the one led, but these occasions are very 
rare, and when such a situation does arise, the 
player of the two hands, if he has any knowledge 
of the game, is certain to cover the original lead 
with a higher card from dummy's hand, so as to 
prevent the third player from passing it up. The 
real advantage of the Eleven Rule shows itself 
with such a hand as the one quoted above, when 
the third player is able to locate the exact number 
of high cards held by the dealer, and thereby to 
form a pretty correct estimate of what strength his 
partner has led from. It must be remembered 
that the dealer is perfectly well aware of the state 
of affairs. He knows that the third player can 
count the high cards in his hand of the suit origi- 
nally led. When he has no card in his own hand 
149 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

capable of beating the one led, lie knows that that 
fact is patent also to the third player. 

This is the one drawback to the Eleven Rule — 
that it can be applied by the dealer just as well 
as by the third player. 

Not long ago, the present writer was looking 

over the hand of a man who is a very fine natural 

card player, but who disdains, and expresses the 

greatest contempt for, the conventions of Bridge. 

The player in question dealt and declared No 

Trumps on a good all-round hand, the 8 of hearts 

was led, his dummy put down the king, 10, 3, and 

he held the ace and 5 only. To any disciple of the 

Eleven Rule it was obvious that dummy's 10 was 

good enough to win the first trick, but our friend 

played the 3 and it took the ace to beat the 8. The 

game proceeded and he won two by cards, and then 

turned round and said, " It could never have been 

won." The answer was, " It could have been won 

if you had put on the 10 of hearts second in hand." 

To which he replied, " Tes, very likely, but I 

could not possibly tell, and I hoped that the third 

hand would play either queen or knave and leave 

me with the ten, ace in dummy." It is only waste 
150 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

of breath to try to explain things to people who 
refuse to understand, so the only answer he got 
was, " Of course you could not tell," and every- 
body was satisfied; but no Eleven Rule player 
could have failed to win three by cards and the 
game. Any amount of instances of the value of 
the Eleven Rule could be adduced, they are always 
occurring, but the two instances given above will 
illustrate the point sufficiently for present pur- 
poses. The Eleven Rule is rarely of any use 
when the card led is below a 5, but anything above 
that is extremely valuable. Even the lead of a 3 
or a 2 has a negative value. The lead of a 2, or 
a 3 if the 2 can be accounted for, tells the leader's 
partner that the suit is one of four cards exactly, 
and this information is occasionally very useful 
when it comes to a question of placing the last 
three or four cards correctly in order to save the 
game. 

Some players adopt the fourth-best lead also 
when playing against a suit declaration, but this 
can be of no use, and may do considerable harm. 
When the strength in trumps is declared against 

the leader, as it clearly is by an original declara- 
151 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

tion of hearts or diamonds, there is no chance of 
the leader's side bringing in a long suit, and there- 
fore it is no use to adopt a number showing lead. 
The leader's business in this case is to make what 
tricks he can, as quickly as he can, and not to 
attempt the impossible. The lead of the fourth- 
best is invaluable at No Trumps, but it is wrong 
when there is a suit declaration. It is very apt 
to be mistaken by the leader's partner for the 
highest of a weak suit, and for this reason the 
eldest hand should lead the lowest of his long suit, 
if he elects to lead from a long suit, quite regard- 
less of how many he holds. When he plays to the 
second round a higher card than the one led, his 
partner will be in no doubt, but will know that 
he has led the lowest of a suit of four or more, the 
exact number being practically immaterial. 

It was necessary to devote considerable space 
to an explanation of the Eleven Rule, because a 
proper understanding of the nature and applica- 
tion of this rule is essential to success in the No 
Trump game. Having, we trust, thoroughly ex- 
plained it, we will now revert to our original 
subject — the opening lead against a No Trump 

152 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

declaration. A table of leads has been already 
given on page 143. These leads are generally 
adopted with very little variation, and there is a 
twofold reason why they shonld be adhered to. 
First, because they are the leads which have been 
proved, by long practice, to be the most profitable 
method of opening the game, and secondly, because 
a strict adherence to them will give the greatest 
amount of information to the leader's partner. 
Let us run through them in order. 

Holding ace, king, queen, and others, the usual 
lead is the queen, followed by the king, the object 
being to give the leader's partner the opportunity 
of unblocking, should he hold four of the suit. 

Holding ace, king, and others, the fourth-best 
should be led, unless the leader holds seven alto- 
gether. In that case there is a good chance of 
dropping the other six in two rounds and winning 
seven tricks in the suit, therefore the king and ace 
should be led out ; but with less than seven of the 
suit it is not possible for the leader to exhaust all 
the rest, and, if he leads out his king and ace, he 
will probably not make another trick in the suit. 
When he holds less than seven he should give away 
153 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

the first trick by leading an under card, always his 
fourth-best, trusting that his partner will be able 
to get in in some other suit and return the original 
lead, in which case the ace and king are winners, 
and probably all the small cards as well. 

Holding ace, king, knave, and others, some 
players lead the king and then open another suit, 
if the queen is not in dummy, waiting for their 
partner to get in and return the lead, but every 
fresh suit opened by the defenders in a No Trump 
game is such a great disadvantage to them that 
this policy is not to be recommended. It is far 
better to give away the first trick and leave the 
dealer to open another suit for himself. Precisely 
the same argument applies to the lead from king, 
queen, 10, and others. If the leader opens with 
the king and neither the ace nor knave appears, 
he is no better off than he was before; he then 
has either to go on with a small one or to change 
his suit, and he is at a disadvantage in either case. 
He will do far better in the long run by leading 
his fourth-best and trusting to his partner for 
either the ace or knave. This is a lead about 
which there is much difference of opinion. Some 
154 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

players always lead the king from king, queen, 
10, and other players never do it. If the leader 
has a certain card of re-entry in another suit, the 
king is probably the better lead, but with no card 
of re-entry, the best chance of establishing the 
suit is the fourth-best lead. Holding king, queen, 
and small ones, the fourth-best should always be 
led with less than seven. When the leader holds 
seven his partner is unlikely to hold more than 
two, and may only hold one or even none, so that 
there is considerable risk of never making a trick 
at all in the suit unless the king is led. 

Holding ace, queen, knave, and others, the 
queen should always be led. This is far the most 
useful of any of the conventional leads, and it 
is one- which very frequently occurs. When the 
leader has five or six of a suit his partner can- 
not be reckoned upon to hold more than two, and 
if the ace is led followed by the queen, the suit 
is indeed cleared after the second round, but it 
is rendered quite useless by the fact that the 
holder of it cannot get in again to lead it. Also, 
if the dealer has king and two others, which is 

a very likely combination, he can hold up the 
155 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

king until the third round, when the ace is out; 
but he dare not do so if the ace is still in, for 
fear of being led through and never making his 
king at all. The value of this lead is very great, 
and cannot be too much insisted upon. 

Holding king, knave, 10, and others, the knave 
is the usual lead, but some players adopt the whist 
lead of the 10. It matters very little which of 
the two is led, and the lead of the 10 has the 
extra advantage of distinguishing between the 
lead from king, knave, 10, and the lead from ace, 
knave, 10. Either lead is equally correct, but it 
is generally better to abide by established custom, 
and custom ordains the lead of the knave. 

Holding queen, knave, 10, and others, the 
queen is the lead, and as soon as the ace makes its 
appearance, the leader's partner can place the 
knave and 10 in the leader's hand. In all other 
cases the fourth-best should be led, unless the 
leader has three or more cards in sequence at the 
head of his suit, in which case he should lead 
the highest. All the foregoing leads are framed on 
the supposition that the leader has no certain card 
of re-entry in his hand. When he is fortunate 
156 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

enough to hold a long suit, and one or more 
cards of entry in the other suits, he can afford 
to play a much more forward game and to lead 
out winning cards at once. For instance, hold- 
ing ace, king, 10, 7, 4, 2 of one suit and the 
ace of another, he could have three rounds of 
his long suit and clear it at once, keeping his 
other ace to come in with, but such a hand as 
this is not common against a genuine ISTo Trump 
declaration. 

" Cavendish " said, in his most excellent book 
on whist, that the object of leading from the nu- 
merically strongest suit is to " obtain for the small 
cards of it a value which does not intrinsically 
belong to them." The same argument applies, 
much more forcibly, to the original lead against a 
!N"o Trump declaration at Bridge. When the 
leader holds the ace, king, and three or four others 
of a suit, he knows that he is, in all probability, 
making his opponents a present of the first trick 
by leading a small card; but he does it, in the 
hope of " obtaining for his small cards in that suit 
a value which does not intrinsically belong to 
them." Directly either he or his partner can re- 
157 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

gain the lead, every card of his suit will be a 
winning one, with anything like an ordinary 
distribution of the cards, whereas, if he leads 
out the king and ace, he will win two tricks 
for certain, but there the power of his hand will 
end, and his numerically strong suit will have no 
value. 

The reason why the opening lead should be 
so different against a No Trump declaration and 
against a suit declaration, is that, when there is a 
declared trump, if the dealer does not win tricks 
with his ace and king on the first two rounds of the 
suit, he will have no chance of winning tricks with 
them at all, as they will inevitably be trumped 
later on. In the No Trump game this danger does 
not exist, and it will always be worth the leader's 
while to give away one certain trick, on the chance 
of winning two or three tricks later in the hand 
by so doing. Nothing is more satisfactory, or more 
profitable, than bringing in a long suit against a 
No Trump declaration, and seeing the small cards 
of it become as valuable as aces and kings. This 
is the result which should be aimed at in the open- 
ing lead, rather than annexing one or two tricks in 
158 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

a hurry, which may indeed save some small loss, 
but which cannot save the game. Occasionally 
when the declarer has a very strong hand, this 
policy will lose a trick, and it may possibly entail 
the loss of the small, or even the grand slam, but 
that is a slight consideration compared with tak- 
ing a reasonable chance of saving the game. 

"Not only is it good policy to give away the first 
trick with the object of establishing a long suit, 
but sometimes the second trick in a suit has to be 
given away with the same object. Say that the 
leader holds ace, knave, 8, 4, 2 of a suit, and no 
other possible card of entry. He holds the 4, the 
dummy put down the king and two others, and 
plays a small one, the third hand wins the trick 
with the queen and returns the suit; now how is 
the leader to play ? If he puts on the ace he cer- 
tainly wins the trick, but his whole hand is then 
worth one trick and one only, and he is asking his 
partner to win three more tricks in order to save 
the game, supposing the opponents to be nothing 
up. If, on the other hand, he plays the knave, 
and allows the king in dummy to win the trick, 

his partner may hold the remaining card of his 
159 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

suit, and one card of entry in another suit, in 
which case there are five tricks accounted for. It 
is seeing these chances, and taking these chances, 
and not being too anxious to win one trick, when 
winning that one trick ends the possibilities of 
his hand, that gives the good Bridge player so much 
advantage over his inferior brother in the No 
Trump game. The issue of more games hangs 
on this opening lead against a No Trump call than 
on any other point in the play of the cards at 
Bridge, and that is the reason why it has been 
dwelt on at such length. There is a great element 
of chance in it, as the position of the remaining 
cards is entirely unknown, but even chance can be 
brought within certain limits, and the accumu- 
lated experience of our most practised Bridge 
players having clearly defined the leads which 
offer the best chances of success, those leads should 
be rigidly adhered to. 

In a previous article it was stated that the rule 
of leading from the numerically strongest suit was 
one from which there should be no departure, " un- 
less under very exceptional circumstances." The 

exceptional circumstances referred to are when 
160 



ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

the leader has absolutely no suit of any trick- 
making value. With such a hand as 

Hearts — Knave, 9, 2. Clubs — 10, 7, 5, 4. 

Diamonds — 9, 6. Spades — Knave, 8, 5, 3. 

the theoretically correct lead would be the 3 of 
spades, but four spades to the knave is a perfectly 
hopeless suit to lead from. The hand itself is 
perfectly hopeless from a trick-making point of 
view, therefore the leader should, in such a case, 
depart from rule, and lead the card which is most 
likely to help his partner. With the hand given 
above it would be the knave of hearts. It is a 
very forlorn hope, and only to be resorted to in 
extremis, but sometimes it will come off and re- 
trieve an otherwise impossible situation. When 
the leader has an absolutely hopeless hand, con- 
taining no suit of more than four cards, and no 
strength in that, he should lead his best heart, 
especially if the declaration has been passed and 
the call made by dummy. The only information 
that a passed No Trump call gives to the opponent 
is that neither the dealer nor the dummy has a 
strong heart hand; they may have protection in 

the suit, but neither of them can be very strong in 
11 161 




ORIGINAL LEAD AGAINST A NO TRUMP 

it or they would have declared hearts, therefore a 
heart is the best bow to draw at a venture. This 
strengthening lead is fraught with great danger, 
as it requires an intelligent partner to grasp the 
situation and to understand that it is a strengthen- 
ing lead, otherwise he may sacrifice a high card 
in the suit with the idea of unblocking, but des- 
perate situations demand desperate measures. 



162 



CHAPTER IX 

THE OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 
DECLARATION 

The principles which govern the opening lead 
against a ISTo Trump declaration and against a 
suit declaration are diametrical]^ c ppossd to one 
another. We have already explained at some 
length that agavst a declaration of ISTo. Trumps 
the leader should not hesitate to give away one 
trick at first in the hope of establishing and bring- 
ing in the remaining cards of his long suit, but it 
would be a suicidal policy to do this against a 
strong suit declaration. When the dealer makes 
an original declaration of hearts or diamonds, the 
strength in trumps is then and there marked in 
his hand, and it is obviously useless for the oppo- 
nents to a?m at establishing a long suit which will 
have no value when it is established. Their first 
object should now be to win the number of tricks 
necessary to save the game, before their small 

163 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

trumps are taken away from them, and before the 
dealer has an opportunity of discarding any of 
his losing cards. 

The best of all the original leads against a 
strong suit declaration is a singleton, provided that 
the leader has two or three small trumps. This 
lead was rightly considered a bad one at whist, 
and there still remain certain ultra-conservative 
players who cannot bring themselves to acknowl- 
edge the value of it at Bridge, the reason being 
that they fail to recognise the fact that the con- 
ditions at whist and at Bridge are entirely 
dissimilar. The number of such dissentients, 
however, is decreasing day by day, and it has 
begun to dawn on even the slowest minded of them 
that many a game is saved by this lead, which could . 
never have been saved by any other means. The 
lead of a singleton was, undeniably, a bad one at 
whist. At whist both sides start on equal terms, 
the strength in trumps is not declared in any one 
hand, and the leader's object is not to annex one 
or two tricks as quickly as possible, but rather to 
play for a big game, and to aim at winning the odd 
trick or more on that hand. At Bridge the con- 
164 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

ditions are quite different. When a red-suit 
declaration has been made by either the dealer or 
the dummy, the opponents' game should be purely 
defensive. Their first care should be to win the 
requisite number of tricks to save the game, and the 
original leader should take the best chance which 
offers itself of winning those three or four tricks 
before he thinks of anything further. As soon 
as the saving of the game is secure, he can then go 
for better results, but saving the game should 
always be his first consideration. The more ex- 
perience that a player gains of the game of Bridge, 
the more fully he will realise what a strong weapon 
of defence is placed in his hand by this lead of a 
singleton against a strong suit declaration. It 
does not always succeed. Occasionally it may lead 
to disaster, but experience has abundantly proved 
that more games are saved by this lead than by 
any other. Great stress has been laid upon the sin- 
gleton lead, because there does still exist a preju- 
dice against it in some quarters, and certain 
writers on the game have rather gone out of their 
way to condemn it, but the fact remains that there 

is hardly a first-class Bridge player at the present 
165 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

day who will not eagerly seize the opportunity of 

leading a singleton when he has the chance. 

It must be borne in mind that the first lead 

is the only blind one. As soon as a card is led 

the dummy's hand is exposed on the table, and the 

leader is able to see, to a certain extent, how the 

land lies. Holding ace, king, and others of a suit, 

the king is an excellent card to lead, as it enables 

the leader to see the exposed hand without parting 

with the lead and without losing the command of 

his suit ; but, even when he holds an ace, king suit, 

a singleton in another suit is generally a better 

opening lead. Suppose that the dealer declares 

hearts, the leader's hand is — 

Hearts — 9, 5, 2. Clubs — Ace, king, 7, 5, 3. 

Diamonds — 8. Spades — Knave, 8, 4, 2. 

If he leads the king of clubs first and then his 

single diamond, how can his partner be expected 

to know what he is playing at, or which suit he 

wants returned ? His partner will probably credit 

him with ace, king, knave of clubs, and will return 

that suit, unless the queen is in dummy, and the 

value of the singleton lead will be lost. He had 

far better lead his singleton at once, and not con- 
166 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

fuse his partner by opening two suits. It is only 
as an original lead that the singleton is so valuable ; 
when it is led as a second consideration, it is diffi- 
cult for the leader's partner to understand the 
situation, whereas a good player is always on the 
look-out for the opening lead being a singleton. 

The first lead being the only blind one, it be- 
hoves the leader to regulate his opening lead so as 
to do as little harm as possible before the dummy 
hand is exposed. If the first lead cannot be aggres- 
sive, it should be purely defensive. The lead of a 
singleton has already been strongly recommended, 
as an aggressive measure, in the hope of making a 
small trump or two by ruffing, before the leader is 
able to draw all the trumps. Not having a single- 
ton, the king from ace, king, and others is an ex- 
cellent lead. Next to this, the king from king, 
queen, or king, queen, knave, and others, is a good 
lead, or the queen from queen, knave, 10, or the 
knave from knave, 10, and another, or, in fact, the 
highest card of any sequence. None of these leads 
can do any harm, and either of the two latter, from 
queen, knave, 10, or from knave, 10, and another, 

may be a fine one for the leader's partner, and 
167 



. OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

may enable him to kill a high card of the suit in 

the dummy hand. The lead from king, queen, 

and one other is not such a good one, as it may 

lose a trick if the ace is in the dealer's hand, still 

this lead enables the leader to have a look at 

dummy without losing the command of the suit, 

and if one trick is sacrificed by it, it is sacrificed 

in a good cause. 

The leads to be specially avoided are from any 

suit headed by a tenace, such as ace, queen, or king, 

knave, or queen, 10, or from a suit headed by a 

high card well guarded, such as king, 10, and 

others. The leader's objective in opening the 

game against a strong suit declaration should not 

be to make a big score, but rather to endeavour 

to save the game, and he should be very chary 

of opening a suit in which he is likely to win one 

or two tricks, if that suit is opened by anybody 

but himself. It is far better to lead the highest of 

two or three valueless cards than to open from 

an ace, queen, or a king, knave suit. There are 

many men, who were good whist players, in times 

now fast growing historic, who have the idea that 

they must open their strongest suit so firmly rooted 
168 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

in their minds, that no amount of experience will 
ever eradicate it. They cannot, or will not, rec- 
ognise the different conditions existing in the two 
games. When the opening lead from weakness 
proves, as it must occasionally prove, disastrous, 
they say, " If you had only opened your strong 
suit, we should have saved the game." They quite 
ignore, or are obstinately blind to, the fact that, 
for one game that is saved by the lead from a long, 
guarded suit, three or four games are lost by it. 

When hearts are declared, at the score of love, 
the defender's first aim and object 'is to win the 
necessary four tricks to save the game, and a 
guarded king, if the ace is not in the dummy hand, 
represents one trick, or a fourth of that aim and 
object, provided that the leader does not open the 
suit. On the same principle, a suit headed by ace, 
queen, in the leader's hand is probably good for 
two of the necessary four tricks, unless the king is 
in dummy, and unless the suit is opened by the 
leader. It is quite a common occurrence, when the 
leader has had occasion to open a weak suit — say 
he has led the 8 from 8, 7, 4 of hearts, against an 

original declaration of diamonds, and his partner's 
169 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

king has been captured by the ace — to hear the 
partner say, in tones of deep reproach, " You 
sacrificed my king by your lead from nothing," but 
is this so ? The leader's partner not having either 
the queen or knave, they must be both against 
him. The ace is in the dealer's hand, and the 
queen and knave must be either in the dealer's 
hand or in the dummy's or one in one and one in 
the other, and in any of these three cases the king 
is as dead as the proverbial doornail. Certainly 
the king was sacrificed, but he was doomed to sacri- 
fice from the start of the hand, and nothing could 
have prevented it, short of the dummy being unable 
to get the lead. It is idle to say that the lead from 
weakness sacrificed the king, when it was fore- 
doomed to destruction in any case. 

The lead of the knave, from knave, 10, and 
another, is one of the best and most useful 
openings. Not only is it a lead which may be 
of great assistance to the leader's partner and 
strengthen his hand enormously, but also it can 
do no harm, as it is impossible to place the re- 
maining high cards of the suit so that a trick 

will be lost by it. Even if the ace and queen are 

170 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

in the dealer's hand, and the king with the leader's 
partner, nothing is lost by it, as the ace and queen 
must make, and the leader is left with the com- 
mand of the suit on the third round, whereas, 
if the king should happen to be in the dummy, 
and the ace and queen with the leader's partner, 
every trick in the suit is secured. 

Another useful opening lead, which cannot do 
harm and may prove very successful, is the lead 
of the queen from queen and one other. This is 
entirely opposed to all the cherished principles 
of whist leads, but it is a very useful opening at 
Bridge in spite of that. If the ace and king are 
both against the leader, his singly guarded queen is 
bound to fall on the second round, but if he should 
chance to find his partner with either or both of 
the tv/o higher cards, the lead of the queen cannot 
fail to be a good one. Such leads as these, which 
cannot do harm and may do much good by strength- 
ening the partner's hand, are far preferable to 
a blind lead from a guarded suit, when opening 
the game against a strong suit declaration. 

Some players are very fond of leading out an 
ace at once, when they hold one, with the object 
171 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

of having a look round. This lead has its advan- 
tages, inasmuch as it enables the leader to see the 
exposed hand before parting with the lead, but 
it is questionable whether this advantage may not 
be gained at too great a cost. Holding ace and 
king only of a suit, the ace, followed by the king, 
is an excellent opening. To lead the ace before 
the king is the recognised method of indicating to 
a partner that the leader holds no more of the suit 
led, and his partner, if he is possessed of ordinary 
intelligence, will give him the opportunity of- mak- 
ing a small trump by a ruff as soon as he is able to 
obtain the lead. Holding ace and others of a suit, 
without a king, the advantage gained by leading 
out the ace and having a look round may be far 
too dearly bought. An ace has other uses beyond 
the winning of one trick, even when winning that 
one trick is coupled with the advantage of having 
a look at the dummy. 

The primary object of an ace's existence is to 
kill a high card of the adversary's, and also that 
ace may become so invaluable as a card of re-entry 
later on, when the lead is badly wanted for a 

specific purpose. The lead is of very small advan- 
172 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

tage at first, before the dummy hand is exposed, 

and before the game has had time to develop, but 

later on in the hand it is a very different matter. 

The original leader has now had the opportunity 

of gaining a great deal of information from the 

fall of the cards, and it may be all-important to 

him to be able to get the lead, and he will very 

likely have occasion to bitterly regret that ace, 

lightly parted with at first for no adequate result. 

When it is necessary to lead from a suit of ace 

and three or four others, the ace must be led by all 

means. There is too much danger of it being 

trumped and never making a trick at all, unless it 

is led originally, but why need that ace suit be 

touched at all ? The leader must have some other 

suit which he could open. He should rather lead 

the highest of a weak suit, containing nothing of 

any value, and retain his ace as a certain card of 

re-entry later on, when he will know something 

about the position of the cards, and when the lead 

may be of real use to him. This is all in strict 

accordance with what has been already said, that 

the first lead should be purely defensive. Once in 

a while the small or even the grand slam may be 
173 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

lost by not leading out an ace, but very rarely in- 
deed will a game be lost by it which could have 
been saved by any other means. When the game 
is bound to be lost in any case, the consideration of 
whether one or even two tricks could have been 
saved is practically immaterial. The small extra 
loss incurred is nothing compared with the chance 
of saving the game. 

When the dealer has passed the declaration and 
a suit has been declared by dummy, one of the very 
best opening leads is a trump through the declar- 
ing hand. This is an opening which is not made 
use of nearly often enough, even by our best 
players. It has so many advantages. When the 
leader has a fairly good protected hand and two 
or three small trumps, it relieves him from the 
responsibility of leading from any of his guarded 
suits, and it can do so little harm. It is possible 
that it may lose one trick. For instance, suppos- 
ing that the dummy has declared hearts with ace, 
knave, and three others, the leader's partner has 
queen and two others, and the dealer king and one 
other. In this case the lead of a trump will un- 
deniably sacrifice the partner's queen and will lose 
174 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

a trick, but this is only one distribution of the cards 
out of many, and in the long run this lead will 
pay well. Suppose the dummy has declared 
hearts, and the leader's hand is — 

Hearts — 10, 7, 5. Clubs — Ace, queen, 8, 6. 

Diamonds — King, 9. Spades — Queen, 10, 5, 2. 

Here there can be no possible doubt as to the right 
lead. The one lead is the 10 of hearts, partly with 
a view of helping the partner if he should happen 
to hold strength in the trump suit, and still more 
to avoid having to open any of the three guarded 
plain suits. The leader's partner, if he wins the 
first trick, will not return the trump suit, but will 
lead up to weakness in the dummy, and the 
leader's hand cannot fail to be materially benefited 
thereby. As we said before, the value of this open- 
ing lead is not anything like sufficiently recognised, 
even by good players. 

There was an old adage at whist : " When in 
doubt lead trumps." There should be a still 
stronger adage at Bridge : " When in doubt lead 
a trump through the declaring hand, but not up 
to it." 

An exception to the rule of the opening lead 
175 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

being purely defensive is when the leader holds 
considerable strength in the trump suit — not 
sufficient strength to double on, but still strength 
enough to keep the declaring hand in check, and 
to prevent the dealer from extracting all the 
trumps. In this case the position of affairs is en- 
tirely altered. The game is in no danger, and the 
leader's plan of campaign should be an attacking, 
not a defensive one. He should open his best suit, 
and try to weaken the declaring hand by forcing 
him to trump, with the ulterior object of bringing 
in his own long suit, as at whist, when all the 
trumps are exhausted. Say that hearts are de- 
clared by the dealer, and the leader holds — 

Hearts — King, knave, 9, 8. Clubs — King, knave, 10, 9, 3. 
Diamonds — 6. Spades — Ace, 6, 2. 

This is not a doubling hand, but it is a good hand, 
a hand on which there is practically no chance of 
losing the game, and a very fair chance of win- 
ning the odd trick or more with the assistance of 
one or two useful cards in the partner's hand. 
The lead of the single diamond would be a very 
bad one with this hand. The leader is in no hurry 

to make his trumps by ruffing. At least two, and 
176 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

very likely three, of them are certain to make, 
with the declared strength behind him, and he 
would be only weakening his own hand by leading 
for a ruff. His lead here should be the knave of 
clubs, because, if his partner has either the ace or 
queen, the suit is at once established, and the 
strong hand against him can be forced with mani- 
fest advantage. The dealer has probably declared 
hearts on five, headed by ace, queen, or ace, queen, 
10, and directly the dealer's hand is once forced, 
the strength in trumps is equalised between the 
dealer and the original leader. With these sorts of 
hands it is generally a case of the player who gets 
the first force on his adversary winning the odd 
trick or more. 

When the dealer has passed the declaration, and 
the dummy has declared either diamonds, clubs, or 
spades, the heart suit is a very safe one to open, 
especially if the leader is himself weak in that 
suit. Somebody must have strength in hearts. 
Neither the dealer nor the dummy has declared 
hearts, therefore the strength does not lie with 
either of them, and it must be with the leader's 
partner. 

12 177 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

It is always dangerous to open a weak black 
suit against a passed call. The dealer has practi- 
cally declared, by passing the declaration, that he 
has no great strength in either hearts or diamonds, 
but he has said nothing about the black suits, and 
he may be very strong in either of them. When 
the declaration has been passed, it is always better, 
cceteris paribus, to open a red suit in preference 
to a black one. 

The conditions are again entirely altered when 
the leader's partner doubles a suit declaration. 
The leader must now abandon his own game alto- 
gether, and play solely for his partner's hand. 
When the declaration has been made by the 
dummy, it is right, in nine cases out of ten, for 
the leader to open with his highest trump, what- 
ever it may be, and whatever the rest of his hand 
may consist of. Showing his strong suit first, 
which some players are very fond of, is a mistake. 
His partner may be trusted to find out his strong 
suit without that, and it may happen that his 
partner has only one of that strong suit, and is 
not able to put him in again. When a player 

doubles, lying over the declarer, it is tantamount 
178 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

to asking his partner to lead his highest trump on 
the first opportunity, and this demand should al- 
ways be complied with. When the leader holds a 
singleton, and two or three small trumps, it is very 
tempting to lead the singleton, but it is not the 
right game. By so doing he is playing for his 
own hand instead of for his partner's, and when 
any declaration is doubled it is obligatory on the 
doubler's partner to give up his own game and to 
play entirely for his partner. 

On the rare occasions when the leader's partner 
doubles a strong suit declaration made by the 
dealer the position is again different. Here the 
leader should not begin with a trump, as the de- 
clarer is now lying over the doubler. In this case 
he should lead a singleton if he has one, or failing 
that, he should open his strongest suit, and play 
an attacking game, not a defensive one, the 
strength in trumps being now declared with him 
instead of against him. 

An extraordinary idea prevails among a large 

section of Bridge players that when the leader's 

partner doubles a declaration of spades made by 

the dummy, it is not right to lead a trump. It is 
179 



OPENING LEAD AGAINST A SUIT 

impossible to ascribe any why or wherefore to this 
idea, but there it is. In these latter days, aided 
by the light of experience, this idea is being slowly 
rooted out, but very slowly. Even now one meets 
many players who cannot be induced to lead a 
trump at once when their partner doubles spades 
— they will lead anything rather. " Hellespont " 
says, " If the leader's partner does not wish a 
trump led to him at once, he has no business to 
double," and in this case " Hellespont " is very 
right. The doubler has either doubled on strength 
in trumps, or on great strength in plain suits, or on 
a good all-round hand, and in any case it must be 
to his advantage to have a trump led at once, as no 
sane man would double simply on the chance of 
making a small trump or two by ruffing. When- 
ever a player, on the left of the declarer, doubles 
a suit declaration, it is obligatory on his partner 
to lead his highest trump, at the earliest possible 
opportunity. 



180 



CHAPTEE X 

THE PLAY OF THE THIED HAND IN A NO 
TRUMP GAME 

It has been written, by a recognised authority on 
the game, that " The play of the third -hand pre- 
sents less difficulties than the original lead, because 
he has the light of the exposed hand to guide him." 
This is no doubt true to a certain extent, but the 
matter is not quite so simple as the writer would 
have it appear. Let it be granted that the third 
hand has " the light of the exposed hand to guide 
him " ; but this light may, or may not, be an 
illuminating one. When the declaration of No 
Trumps has been made by the dummy, the light is 
a very shining one, inasmuch as the strength on 
which the declaration was made is fully exposed, 
but, when the dealer has made the declaration, the 
light afforded by a view of the dummy hand may 
be a veritable will-o'-the-wisp, and not only may 
tell the leader nothing, but may even lead him into 
altogether false deductions. 

181 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

The third player may be said to have responsi- 
bility thrust upon him. He has no voice in the 
original opening of the game. That is entirely in 
the hands of his partner. All that he knows is 
that his partner has opened his numerically strong- 
est suit, and he has to draw his conclusions, and to 
determine upon the game to be played, by infer- 
ences that he can draw from the value of the card 
originally led, and from the forces exposed in the 
dummy hand. For this reason, it is absolutely 
essential that every player should have a thorough 
knowledge of the established and accepted leads 
against a ~No Trump declaration, a table of which 
will be found on page 143, and that he should be 
able to draw reliable deductions therefrom. 

The deductions to be drawn from these leads 
are as follows : — The lead of 

Ace indicates Ace, queen, knave, and others, with a card 
of re-entry. 

King " ( 1 ) Ace, king, and five others. 

(2) Ace, king, knave, and others. 

(3) King, queen, knave, and one other. 
Queen " ( 1 ) Ace, king, queen, and others. 

1(2) Ace, queen, knave, and others. 
(3) Queen, knave, 10, and others. 

182 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

Knave indicates (1) Ace, knave, 10, and others. 

(2) King, knave, 10, and others. 

(3) King, queen, knave, and more than 

one other. 

(4) Highest of a sequence. 

Ten " (1) King, knave, 10, and others. 

(2) Sequence headed by the 10. 
Any lower card indicates ( 1 ) Highest of a sequence. 

( 2 ) Three higher cards exactly in 
the leader's hand. 

These are the only accepted leads against a No 
Trnmp declaration, and every player who pro- 
fesses to play scientific Bridge ought to have them 
thoroughly at his finger-ends, so that he will never 
be in a position to say to his partner, " I did not 
understand what your lead meant." If he knows 
these leads by heart, he cannot fail to read his 
partner's lead correctly, or, at the worst, to be in 
doubt between one or two possible combinations. 
Thus, supposing the leader opens with the queen 
of a suit, there is nothing of any value in dummy, 
and the third hand holds king and two others. It 
is absolutely certain that the lead is either from 
ace, queen, knave, and others, or from queen, 
knave, 10, and others, and in either case the king 
should be played on the leader's queen at once — 

183 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

not for purposes of unblocking, but to show the 
leader where the other high card lies. Or again, to 
take a more forcible example, suppose the leader 
opens with a knave, the dummy puts down two or 
three small ones, and the third hand holds queen 
and two others. In this case the lead is either 
from ace, knave, 10, or from king, knave, 10, or 
from a sequence headed by the knave, and in any 
case the queen should be played on the partner's 
knave without a moment's hesitation. It is a 
singular fact that many players, who would at once 
get out of their partner's way if they held queen 
and one other, will not do so when they hold 
queen and two or more others. They will say, 
" I saw no good in unblocking until it was neces- 
sary." But that is not the point. It is not a ques- 
tion of unblocking, but of making the game easy 
for their partner. The queen is of no possible 
value as regards establishing the suit, but what 
the leader wants to know is where the queen is 
situated, and that information they studiously 
withhold from him. 

Take a very common instance. The leader holds 
ace, knave, 10, to five of a suit; he opens with the 

184 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

knave, the second and third hands both play small 
ones, and the dealer wins with the king, leaving 
the position of the queen entirely unknown, but 
with a strong presumption that it is in the dealer's 
hand. The original leader gets in again, and what 
is he to do ? He probably has no other card of 
entry, and he is afraid to lead out his ace for fear 
of leaving the queen in the dealer's hand to com- 
mand the situation, so he tries to put his partner 
in with some other suit in the hope of having his 
original suit led to him through the dealer's hand, 
and the result is probably disaster. If the third 
hand had only made the game easy for him by 
showing him the queen, instead of leaving him to 
guess, four tricks in the suit would have been 
absolutely assured, but this is what they will not 
do — they will not make the game easy. What 
harm can it possibly do, with any combination of 
the cards, to throw a queen on the partner's knave 
led? The leader of the knave is bound to have 
either ace and 10, or king and 10, or 10 and 9, in 
addition to his knave, and in none of these three 
cases can it be anything but an assistance to him 

to see a high card played by his partner, supposing 
185 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

of course that there is nothing of value in the 
dummy hand. 

There is no more tiresome partner in a No 
Trump game than one who will persist in holding 
up a high card in your original suit. He will 
not block you — he flatters himself that he is too 
good a player to do that — but neither will he 
make the game easy for you by getting rid of a 
high card of your suit, which can be of no pos- 
sible value to him, but which is bound to cramp 
your game as long as you do not know where it 
lies. 

There is one golden rule laid down for the 
guidance of the third player against a No Trump 
declaration, and that is, always to return his part- 
ner's original lead, unless the ultimate establish- 
ment and bringing in of that suit is obviously 
hopeless. It will frequently happen that the third 
player has a stronger suit than the one originally 
opened, and that it would have been far better if 
he had had the opening lead, but he did not have 
it. His partner had to open the game, he has 
opened it with his best suit, and the attack must 

be continued in that suit, unless the cards exc- 
ise 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

posed in dummy are such as to render it mani- 
festly fatal to do so. There are certain timorous 
players who will not return their partner's suit, 
when they have won the first trick with the king 
or queen, because they see the ace in the dummy 
hand. They will say afterwards, when the game 
has probably been lost through their bad play, 
" I did not like to return your suit up to the ace," 
but why not ? An ace is by no means a bad card 
to lead up to — rather the reverse. The ace is 
bound to make, and, by returning the suit at once, 
the third player gives his partner a fine chance 
of utilising any tenace which he may hold, with- 
out helping his opponents in any way. The effect 
of opening some other suit, up to weakness in the 
dummy, is only to take a card of entry out of the 
partner's hand, and those precious cards of entry 
— there are not likely to be many of them — are 
so invaluable that they should never be lightly 
sacrificed. 

It is a very strong measure for the third hand 
to abandon his partner's suit, and to open his own. 
By so doing, he is practically saying to his part- 
ner, " Give up your suit altogether, and play for 
187 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

niine,- it is by far the stronger of the two." There 
are occasions when it is right to change the suit, 
as, for instance, when the third player holds a suit 
of king, queen, knave to five, which will be estab- 
lished with the loss of only one trick, whereas the 
leader's suit will take two more rounds to estab- 
lish; but these occasions are few and far between, 
and are only the exceptions which prove the rule. 
The general rule is, that it is a fatal policy for 
the two defenders to have disjointed interests by 
each playing for his own suit. 

It will occasionally happen that the dummy puts 
down such a powerful hand as to render it patent 
to the third player that the game must be lost 
unless his partner holds one or more named cards. 
When this is the case, he should play for that 
card, or those cards, being in his partner's hand, 
as though he had seen them there, regardless of 
the fact that an extra trick may be lost by so 
doing. Saving the game, not saving one or two 
tricks., is the object to be. played for. 

The following hand, which occurred in actual 
play, is a very illustrative instance of this. A B 
were partners- against Y Z. The score was love 

188 





Y 


A 


B 


( dealer ) 


(dummy) 




Z 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

all. A dealt and left it to B-, who declared No 
Trumps. Y led the knave of hearts, and B's and 
Z's hands were as follows : — 

Hearts — King, queen. 

Diamonds — Queen. 

Clubs — Ace, king, queen, knave, 

7,4. 
Spades — Ace, 9, 8,5. : 

Hearts — Ace, S, 3. 
Clubs — 9, 7, 6. 
Diamonds — King, 10, 9, 8. 
Spades — Knave, 10, 4. 

Z won the first trick with the ace of hearts, and 
he then had to consider how the game was to be- 
saved. It was at once obvious that his partner 
must hold the ace of diamonds, otherwise the game 
was lost, six tricks in clubs, one in hearts, one in 
diamonds, and one in spades — three by cards. 
If he returned the heart, that suit was at once 
established, but it was then necessary for his 
partner to hold the king Of spades in addition to 
the ace of diamonds. After a moment's hesita- 
tation, he led the king of diamonds, not a small 
one, as in that case his partner must have the 
knave as well as the ace to save the game. It 
came off to perfection. The dealer held knave 

189 



TPIIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

and three other diamonds, and the king, queen of 
spades; and any other lead than the king of dia- 
monds must have lost at least five by cards. As 
it was, they made the ace of hearts and four 
diamonds and saved the game. This is not quoted 
as any great coup, but just as an instance of 
placing a high card in the partner's hand, and 
playing as though it were marked there, when it 
was absolutely necessary for it to be there in order 
to save the game. An inferior player would not 
have played it in that way, but would probably 
have returned the heart, and would then have said 
to his partner, after the game was lost, " If I 
had only known that you had the ace of diamonds, 
I could have saved that game." He could not 
possibly have known it, but he ought to have rec- 
ognised that the game was lost unless it was there, 
and to have played as though he did know it. 

At first sight it appears a very deadly game for 
the third player to return his partner's suit up to 
a major tenace, or two winning cards, in dummy, 
but to do so is often the lesser of two evils. Say 
that the leader has opened with a small heart, the 
third hand, holding queen and two small ones, 
190 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

wins with the queen, leaving ace and knave in 
dummy. If he returns the suit, he is leading up 
to a certain tenace over his partner's king, but the 
tenace is there whatever he does. If he does not 
lead the suit, the dealer will do so as soon as he 
gets in, and the ace and knave will win all the 
same, so that he is really giving away nothing by 
returning the suit. It is far better to do this than 
to open a fresh suit at random, unless it is a very 
good one. 

One of the strongest axioms of bridge is that 
every fresh suit opened by the opponents of the 
declarer of No Trumps is an enormous disad- 
vantage to them. Where the attack is first begun, 
there it should be continued, unless the result of 
doing so will obviously be fatal. 

The application of the " Eleven Rule," which 
was fully explained at page 147, is the one bright 
guiding star for the play of the third hand. For 
the benefit of any of our readers who may not 
have read, or, if they did read, may not have 
attached sufficient importance to this particular 
point, we will here repeat the conditions of the 
" Eleven Rule." When the original leader has 

191 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

led his fourth-best card, if the value of the pips 
on the card led is deducted from eleven, the re- 
mainder will be the number of cards of that suit, 
higher than the one led, which are not in the 
leader's hand. The correct application of this 
rule is frequently of inestimable value to the 
player of the third hand. There are occasions 
when the position of every card in the suit can 
be accurately gauged, such as when the leader 
opens with the 7 of a suit, the dummy puts down 
queen, 8 and another, and the third hand holds 
ace, 10, and a small one. In this case it is a cer- 
tainty that the dealer cannot beat the 7, as there 
are only four cards against the leader, higher than 
the one led, and they are all visible to the third 
player. Therefore, if the second hand covers the 
7 with the 8, the third player puts on his 10, 
leads out the ace and a small one, and every trick 
in the suit is assured. This is an extreme case, 
which does not often happen. Much more fre- 
quently the third hand is able to judge that the 
dealer has one card and one only higher than the 
card led, and he then has to determine what that 

one card is likely to be. This is by far the most 
192 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

common form of the application of the " Eleven 
Rule." Say that the leader opens with a 6, which 
shows five higher cards against him in the suit, 
the dummy puts down knave, 7, 4, and the third 
hand holds king, 9, 2. The dealer is marked with 
one card only higher than the 6, and that card 
may be ace, queen, 10, or 8. If the declaration 
of No Trumps has been made by the dealer, the 
probability is that that one card is the ace, or at 
any rate the queen, in neither of which cases can 
anything be gained by putting on the king as third 
hand. There is, of course, the possibility of the 
dealer having chanced that suit entirely, and of 
the original leader holding both ace and queen; 
but bridge is a game of probabilities, not possi- 
bilities, and the third hand has to consider the 
probable placings of the cards, not possible but 
improbable combinations. In this case he should 
play his 9 on the 6 led, whether the second hand 
covers or not, and, if his 9 is allowed to win, lead 
the king at once, so as to clear his partner's suit 
and to avoid blocking him. If the dealer holds 
ace and two small ones, he will probably allow the 
king also to win. The third one should then be 

13 193 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

led in the hope that the leader may have a card 
of re-entry to bring in his thirteenth. 

Let us take another case, which is by no means 
uncommon. Suppose the leader opens with a 5, 
the dummy puts down knave, 7, 3, and the third 
hand holds queen, 9, 6. According to the Eleven 
Rule the dealer can have one card only higher than 
the 5, and, if the declaration has been made by 
him, there is a very strong presumption that his 
one card is either the ace or the king. If the third 
hand puts on the queen, it is won by the ace or 
king in the dealer's hand, and the knave in dummy 
remains good for the third trick. If, on the other 
hand, the third player presumes that the dealer's 
one card is either the ace or king, and finesses his 
9, every subsequent trick in the suit is assured, 
should his presumption prove correct. This is a 
good instance of the sort of chances that must be 
taken, and of the kind of finesses that should be 
made by the third player, and this is where the 
Eleven Rule helps him so much. It may happen 
that his partner has led from an ace, king suit, 
in which case several tricks, and probably the 
game, will be lost by his finesse; but the balance 

194 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

of probability is strongly against it, and it is 
foolish to play for one possible combination of the 
cards, when there are many other combinations 
which are distinctly more probable. 

The value of the card led, if it is a moderately 
high one, affords great information to an obser- 
vant player of the third hand. Suppose the leader 
opens with the 1 of a suit, the dummy puts down 
the 8 and the 3, and the third hand holds king, 

9, 4. Here again, the dealer is marked with only 
one card higher than the 7, but in this case the 
value of that one card is absolutely certain. The 
four missing higher cards are ace, queen, knave, 
and 10, and it is certain that the original leader 
cannot hold either ace, queen, knave, or ace, knave, 

10, or queen, knave, 10, as he would have led one 
of the honours from either combination; there- 
fore the cards in his hand must be ace, queen, 10, 
leaving the knave marked with the dealer. This 
should be as plainly apparent to the third player 
as though he had seen the knave in the dealer's 
hand. In this particular case the information is 
not of much use to him, as he would of course 
play the king in any case, there being nothing of 

195 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

value in the dummy hand; but it is given as an 
instance of being able to place the high cards of 
the suit led, with the assistance of the Eleven 
Rule. 

The dealer is acknowledged to have quite a dis- 
proportionate advantage in the play of the two 
hands when there are No Trumps, but the Eleven 
Rule is a strong weapon of defence against him 
in the hands of skilful adversaries, and the correct 
application of it will to some extent minimise the 
great advantages which he undoubtedly possesses. 

It is a good wholesome general rule that it can 
never be good play to finesse against one's partner, 
but this rule admits of considerable exception in 
the case of the third player in a No Trump game. 
When an adverse call of No Trumps has been 
made, it is of such supreme importance to estab- 
lish the suit originally led, that any finesse should 
be taken by the third hand, which offers a fair 
chance of defeating the cards exposed in dummy. 
If there is nothing of any value in dummy, then 
any finesse is bad. In this case the third hand 
should play his highest card of the suit led, or 
the lowest of two or more such cards in sequence, 
196 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

and leave all the finessing to his partner, and he 
should also endeavour to help his partner as much 
as possible by returning a higher card than the 
best one in dummy, so as to force the dealer to 
cover on the second round. It seems hardly neces- 
sary to say that when the third player holds four 
of the suit originally led, and the dummy puts 
down three, the dealer cannot possibly hold more 
than two, as the original leader must have at least 
four. It follows that the dealer's remaining card, 
whatever it may be, is bound to be played on the 
second round, therefore it is unnecessary for the 
third player to lead a strengthening card; he 
should rather show his partner four of the suit 
by returning a low one. 

The time when a strengthening card becomes 
so useful is when dummy has two only of the 
suit. Suppose the leader opens with 3 of dia- 
monds, dummy puts down 10, 5, and the third 
player holds king, knave, 4, 2. The third player 
puts on the king which wins the trick, and he 
should at once return the knave, in direct oppo- 
sition to the old whist rule of showing four of the 
suit by returning a low one. The situation is so 
197 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

obvious : the dealer has two diamonds, one of 
which is very probably the queen, and if the third 
player returns a small one, his partner has to put 
on the ace to beat the 10 in dummy, and the queen 
remains mistress of the situation, whereas by re- 
turning the knave both the queen and 10 are 
killed. All this is only common sense, but com- 
mon sense is a faculty which many would-be 
Bridge players seem very devoid of at the Bridge 
table, however well furnished they may be with 
it in other walks of life. They get an idea fixed 
in their heads, such as that it is right to return 
the highest of three and the lowest of four, and 
they fail to see that the rule must be varied under 
differing conditions. 

When there is a high card exposed in the 
dummy, the situation is entirely altered. In this 
case any reasonable finesse, not only may, but 
must, be taken by the third hand. Holding ace, 
10, and another, the finesse of the 10 should al- 
ways be made, if either the king or queen is in 
the dummy hand. It is quite possible that the 
leader has both of the other honours, but if he has 

only one of them, and the other is in the dealer's 
198 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

hand, nothing can be lost by finessing the 10, as 
the dealer is bound to win at least one trick in the 
suit in any case. When the knave and two others 
are in dummy, on the other hand, nothing can be 
gained by finessing. 

It is at all times radically wrong to take a 
finesse by which nothing can be gained, and this 
particular combination affords a common instance 
of such a mistake. When the dummy puts down 
knave and two others, and the third hand holds 
ace, 10, and another, it is impossible to place the 
cards so that the finesse of the 10 can gain a trick. 
The original leader may have both the king and 
queen, but in this case nothing is gained by the 
finesse, as all the other cards must fall — if he 
has only one of them, it is absolutely impossible 
to avoid losing a trick in the suit, and the only 
result of the third hand finessing is to mystify 
his partner by leaving him in doubt as to the posi- 
tion of the ace. The finesse of the 10 is in this 
case a bad one, because nothing can be gained by 
it, but the same finesse with either king or queen 
in dummy is a good one, because nothing can be 

lost by it, and much may be gained. 
199 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

This is the principle which should govern the 
play of the third hand — to take any reasonable 
finesse which may result in profit if the cards lie 
favourably, but never to hold up a high card of 
his partner's suit when nothing can be gained by 
it, and when the only result of his so doing will 
be the complete mystification of his unfortunate 
partner. Eor instance, it is obviously useless to 
finesse ace, 9, and another, with the king or queen 
in dummy, as the dealer cannot hold either king, 
knave, or 10, or queen, knave, 10, and therefore 
one at least of those three cards is marked in the 
dealer's hand. 

Certainly, a player should finesse more boldly 
as third hand in a No Trump game than at any 
other time, but even then his finesses should be 
tempered by judgment and by careful calculation 
of what high cards his partner may hold, and he 
will sometimes realise that he will render his part- 
ner more assistance by showing him at once the 
exact state of affairs than by taking a wild and 
generally useless finesse. 

In this again, as in nearly every point during 

the temporary partnership at the Bridge tables, 
200 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

the plainer and more straightforward the game 
is made, the better it will be for the interests of 
both partners. 

Some players, holding ace and two small ones, 
will not put on the ace as third hand, if they see 
the king in the dummy, in the hope of catching 
the king on the second round of the suit. They 
will very likely succeed in so doing if there is a 
second round, but in the meantime they have al- 
lowed the dealer to win the first trick, and have 
wilfully deceived their partner by causing him to 
think that the ace is against him, with the result 
that he will be very likely to change his game 
altogether when he gets in again. It is far better 
to play the ace at once and to return the suit up 
to the king in dummy, so as to give the leader the 
chance of utilising his tenace if he has one, and 
also so as to leave him in no doubt as to the posi- 
tion of the ace. The one solitary instance in which 
it is right to hold up the ace is when the dummy 
puts down king, queen, 10, and the third hand 
holds ace and two small ones. The queen is cer- 
tain to be put on second in hand, and if the third 
hand wins it with his ace, he leaves the king and 

201 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

10 both good, and he is in the uncomfortable posi- 
tion of having either to return the suit up to the 
major tenace, or to open a fresh suit. If, on the 
other hand, he allows the queen to win the first 
trick, the dealer at once places the ace in the origi- 
nal leader's hand, and when the suit is led again 
the king is certain to be played and the suit is 
established, supposing, as is more than probable, 
that the original lead was from four or five, 
headed by the knave. Holding up the ace is the 
only possible way of preventing the dealer win- 
ning two tricks in the suit, and although it is 
true that the argument against deceiving one's 
partner applies here, in this particular instance 
it is the smaller of two evils. 

It should be remembered that an application of 
the Eleven Rule will always tell the third player 
the exact number in the suit, higher than the one 
led, which are in the dealer's hand. When the 
dealer can be marked with two or more such cards, 
it is very unlikely that anything will be gained by 
finessing, but it is when he is marked with one 
higher card, and one only, that the opportunity for 

& useful finesse so often occurs. The third hand is 

202 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

sometimes in a position to make a very shrewd 

guess at the value of that one high card, and when 

he can do this he ought to play as though he knew 

for a certainty that his guess was right. We will 

take a very simple instance of this — the dealer 

declares No Trumps, the 7 of hearts is led, the 

third hand holds king, 9, 5, and the dummy puts 

down queen, 4, 2, and also holds the ace and king 

of clubs. It is now very nearly a certainty that 

the dealer's one high card in hearts must be the 

ace, as he would not have declared No Trumps 

with the entire command of two suits against him, 

unless it was a one suit declaration, and even in 

that case the play of the king of hearts would not 

save the game, as the queen in dummy would win 

the third trick. If it was an ordinary sound 

declaration, the ace of hearts is practically marked 

in the dealer's hand, and the play of the king third 

hand will not only lose a trick, but also prevent the 

establishment of the suit. 

There are players who finesse the ace, queen, on 

their partner's lead, and try to defend themselves 

by saying that it cannot matter as the king is 

bound to make if it is the dealer's hand. It may 
, 203 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

matter a great deal, and that for two reasons. In 
the first place, it is quite possible that the king, 
in the dealer's hand, may be unguarded, and may 
fall to the ace, but a far more important consider- 
ation than this is that the play of the queen de- 
ceives the leader altogether as to the position of the 
ace, and he naturally marks it in the dealer's hand. 
There is one position, and one only, when it is 
right to finesse the ace, queen against one's part- 
ner, that is, when the knave and two others are in 
dummy. A minute's thought will show that in 
this one case nothing can be gained, and much may 
be lost by playing the ace and returning the queen, 
which would be the correct mode of play at any 
other time. If the leader has led from the 
king and others, it obviously makes no difference 
whether the third hand plays the ace or queen first, 
but if the king is in the dealer's hand, the play of 
ace followed by queen will leave both the king and 
knave good, and even if the king is unguarded and 
falls to the ace, the knave in dummy will still win 
a trick. It would be still worse to win with the 
ace and return the small one, as the original leader 

would then have to put on the king in order to beat 
204 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

the knave in dummy, and the third hand would be 
obliged to block the suit with his queen on the 
next round. 

One of the most heinous offences at Bridge is 
what is known as " finessing against one's part- 
ner," by which is meant finessing against a card 
which is not in dummy and which therefore must 
be either in the dealer's hand or in one's partner's. 
It is the old story, that nothing can be gained by it 
and something may be lost. The instance quoted 
above is the one single exception to this rule. 

The finesse of ace, knave, and another, with the 
queen exposed in dummy, does not come under 
this head, because the finesse is against two cards, 
one of which is known to be in dummy, and the 
only chance of winning every trick is that the king 
should be in the leader's hand. 

It behoves the third player to be very careful 

not to block his partner's suit when there are No 

Trumps. Holding ace and one other, the ace 

should always be played on the king led, unless 

three to the knave or four to the 10 are exposed in 

dummy, in either of which cases the ace is obliged 

to be held up in order to win every trick in the suit. 
205 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

Holding ace and two others, it is better to put 
the ace on the king at once, although it is not so 
imperative as with ace and one only. The lead of 
the king must be either from king, queen, knave, 
or from king, queen, 10, and nothing can be gained 
by holding up the ace when there is nothing of 
value in dummy. If the original leader holds 
king, queen, knave, he) will continue with the 
queen, and his partner's ace will have to be put on 
the second round to avoid blocking the suit ; if the 
lead was from king, queen, 10, there is a danger 
of the leader changing the suit for fear of finding 
the ace and knave in the dealer's hand, therefore 
the ace had better be put on the first trick, so as 
to leave no doubt. 

Holding ace and one other, the ace should 

always be put on a queen led, unless the king 

singly guarded is in dummy. If the king and two 

others are in dummy, the result of passing the 

queen must inevitably be to block the suit. When 

the queen wins, the leader will continue with the 

knave, and even if the king is then put on, the suit 

is temporarily blocked, but if the king is not put 

on the second round the third hand has to play his 
206 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

ace, and the suit is effectually blocked for all time. 
By far the better plan is to win the first trick with 
the ace, and return the suit at once up to the king, 
when the suit is bound to be cleared, and if the 
original leader has any card of re-entry he can 
bring his suit in. 

Holding king and one other, the king should be 
played on an ace or a queen led. The lead of ace 
can only be from ace, queen, knave, and others, 
and the lead of queen is either from ace, queen, 
knave, or from queen, knave, 10, and in either 
case the king, singly guarded, can do nothing but 
harm in the third player's hand, therefore it 
should be got rid of as soon as possible. Holding 
king and two others, it is better to play the king at 
once on a queen led, not that the king will do any 
harm by blocking the suit if it is retained till the 
next round, but it can also do no good, so it is 
advisable to inform one's partner at once where it 
is situated. 

Holding queen with either one or two others, 

the queen should be played on either king or 

knave lead, not for purposes of unblocking, as that 

could equally well be done on the next round, but 

207 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

for the purpose of showing the leader where the 
queen lies. With neither of these leads will the 
queen be wanted to win a trick. The lead of king 
is probably from ace, king, knave, and the lead of 
knave is either from ace, knave, 10, or from king, 
knave, 10, or from knave, 10, 9, and in any of 
these cases the queen is better out of the way. If 
you have an intelligent partner, he will not be 
misled into thinking that your queen was single, 
he will only be grateful to you for showing him 
exactly how the cards lie. 

We append a short table of these combina- 
tions : — 

C , "\ play ace on king led ( unless 

„ ,,. ace and one other / , ,° lft , 

Holding J , , ,, I knave to three, or 10 to 

I ace and two others [ . . , , 

I J four are m dummy). 

" ace and one other play ace on queen led ( un- 

less king singly guarded 
is in dummy ) . 

ace and two others play ace on queen led ( un- 

less king is in dummy). 

king and one other "| play king on ace or queen 

king and two others J led. 

queen and one other "J play queen on ace or knave 

queen and two others J led. 



The third hand should always be on the look- 
out to unblock in his partner's suit, and the only 
208 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

certain means of doing so is to retain his smallest 
card. Suppose a small heart is led, the dummy 
(who has declared the No Trump) puts down king 
and one other, and the third hand holds queen, 
knave, 5, the king in dummy's hand is put on, and 
the third hand must play his knave under it, 
otherwise he is very likely to block the suit. Any 
partner of ordinary intelligence will recognise the 
situation, and will lead another small one when he 
gets in again. Similarly, with knave, 10, and a 
small one, the third hand should play his 10 to the 
first round, whatever is led, and whatever is put 
on from the dummy. 

The same principle applies to discarding. 
When the third hand, having originally three of 
his partner's suit, is compelled to discard one of 
his remaining two cards, he should discard the 
higher and keep the lower one to return to his 
partner. Say that he held queen, 10, 3, with 
nothing of value in dummy, he plays his queen on 
the first round, which is won by the ace in the 
dealer's hand ; if he has to discard from that suit 
he should discard the 10 and not the 3, so as to 
give his partner a chance of utilising a tenace. 
14 209 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

If his partner has both the king and knave it does 
not matter, but it is easy to see that if his partner 
has led from king, 9, and others, and the knave 
and another are in the dealer's hand, it will matter 
a great deal, and may make all the difference of 
saving or losing the game. 

There is yet one other point in connection with 
this subject which is worthy of mention. 

When the third player holds four of his part- 
ner's suit, and is able, from the original lead, to 
place his partner with only four, there is no neces- 
sity for him to get out of the way by unblocking. 
It then becomes a question of whether it will be 
more advantageous for himself or his partner to 
have the lead after the fourth round of the suit. 
This will generally depend upon whether the No 
Trump has been declared by the dealer or by the 
dummy, as it is obviously better to lead through 
the declaring hand rather than up to it. When 
the declaration has been made by the dealer, the 
third hand should retain a high card and return his 
lowest, at the same time showing four, if he is in 
a position to do so, by echoing in the suit. When, 

on the other hand, the dealer has passed and the 
210 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

dummy has made the declaration, the third hand 
should part with his higher cards and retain the 
low one, so as to make sure of his partner winning 
the fourth round, and being in a position to lead 
through the strong hand exposed on the table. 

Following the same line of argument, when the 
declaration has been made by the dealer, and the 
third hand has to lead, and has one card of his 
partner's suit, of which he knows that his partner 
has the winning card or even two winning cards, 
it is not advisable to continue that suit, unless that 
one or those two tricks will save the game. If the 
game can be saved for certain, by all means let 
him make sure of it, but if those one or two tricks 
will not save the game, he had far better lead a 
strengthening card through the strong hand, in 
preference to putting his partner in and forcing 
him to lead up to the strength at an obvious 
disadvantage. 

In dealing with the question of the third hand 

finessing in his partner's suit, we omitted to point 

out that it is useless to finesse the ace, knave only, 

against the king doubly guarded in dummy. This 

proceeding can but result in blocking the suit. 
211 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

With ace, knave only, the ace should be played on 
the first trick and the knave returning at once in 
the hope of drawing the king and clearing the 
suit, or the leader may hold the queen and 10, in 
which case he puts on the queen and clears it at 
once. 

With ace, queen only, and the king doubly 
guarded in dummy, it is difficult to know what to 
do. If the third hand has at all a useful suit of 
his own, he should win with the queen and open 
his own suit; but if he has a bad hand with no 
suit that can be established, he had better win 
with the ace and return the queen, in the hope 
that the king may be put on the second round and 
the suit cleared with the loss of one trick. It is 
patent that he can make both the ace and queen, 
but having done so he has to open another suit at 
random, and his partner will require to have two 
cards of entry in order to bring in his original 
suit. If the king is not put on the queen, he is 
certainly left in the same position; but at least 
he has done no harm, as his ace and queen have 
both made. 

The play of the third hand is a very important 
212 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

factor in the No Trump game. The original 
leader has to open the game blindfolded, before 
seeing the dummy hand, and the duty of deter- 
mining how the attack is to be continued devolves 
upon the third player, should he be able to win 
the first trick. The broad general principles upon 
which he should act are : — 

Firstly and of supreme importance, always to- 
return his partner's original lead, unless he has 
a much stronger or more easily established suit 
in his own hand, or, unless the cards exposed in 
dummy are such as to render the establishment 
of the original suit impossible or highly improb- 
able. Do not let him be afraid of returning his 
partner's suit because the ace of it, or the king, 
doubly guarded, is in dummy. The ace, or the 
guarded king, is certain to make sooner or later, 
and the only effect of opening a fresh suit will 
be to take a very useful card of re-entry out of 
his partner's hand. 

Secondly, to finesse boldly against any strength 
in dummy, but to finesse nothing against his part- 
ner. One writer on the game of Bridge- (Helles- 
pont) says that the third player should always 
213 



THIRD HAND IN A NO TRUMP GAME 

finesse holding ace, queen, etc., or ace, queen, 
knave, etc. ; but why this finesse more than any- 
other ? It is just one of those cases where nothing 
can be gained and something may be lost. With 
either of these combinations the third hand should 
play the ace to the first trick and return the queen, 
unless, holding ace and queen, he sees the knave, 
doubly guarded, in the dummy. 

Thirdly, to pay particular attention to the value 
of the card led by his partner, always to apply the 
Eleven Rule when anything below an honour is 
led, and to be especially careful not to block his 
partner's long suit by retaining a high card of it. 

Fourthly, when an honour is led, to make the 
game as easy as possible for his partner by parting 
at once with any high card, which cannot be wanted 
to win a trick, but the position of which will be 
doubtful to his partner if it does not come out on 
the first round, as, for instance, by playing the 
queen on a knave led. Any one who will bear in 
mind these simple principles will have no reason 
to blame himself if things go wrong. 



214 



CHAPTER XI 

THE PLAY OF THE THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 
DECLARATION 

The difference between the Suit game and the No 
Trump game is perhaps more strongly marked in 
the tactics of the third player than in any other 
instance. In the first place, the obligation to 
return his partner's original opening lead no 
longer exists. He must not now take it for 
granted that his partner has opened his numer- 
ically strongest suit; rather the reverse. The 
opening lead is probably from one of four 
combinations. 

1. A high card from a suit headed by two or 
more honours. 

2. The lowest of a suit of four or more. 

3. The highest of a weak suit, possibly a single- 
ton, or possibly a suit of two or even three. 

4. A trump, when the declaration has been 

215 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

made by the dummy, and the leader has a pro- 
tected hand which he wants led up to. 

The first consideration of the third player must 
be to form an opinion as to which of these com- 
binations his partner has led from, and this should 
not be a difficult task when he has the cards in his 
own hand and in dummy to guide him. Having 
formed his opinion he should regulate his game 
accordingly. There is no need for him to un- 
block, with the strength in trumps declared against 
him, the sole exception being when he holds ace 
and knave only, and his partner leads the king. 
In this case it is right to put on the ace and re- 
turn the knave, so that if his partner has the 10 
in addition to the queen (which is marked in his 
hand), he can win the second trick with his queen 
and continue the. suit, giving the third hand a 
discard which may be very useful. 

The favourite opening lead with all Bridge 

players, against a suit declaration, is the lead of 

king from ace, king, or from ace, king, queen, 

and others. When a king is led the third player 

has no alternative but to follow suit with his 

lowest card, unless he has only two of the suit, 
216 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

neither of them being an honour. In this case 
he should show his partner that he has only two, 
by playing the higher on the first round and the 
lower on the second. This is known as the " call 
for a ruff/' and it is the most useful of all the 
signals at Bridge. It is quite as useful in its 
negative side as in its positive. When you are 
playing with a trustworthy partner, and he does 
not call in a suit of which you lead the king and 
ace, you can place him to a certainty with at least 
one more card of that suit. This signal should 
never be used when one of the two cards is an 
honour. If your partner leads a king and you 
play the knave on it, he naturally credits you with 
either the queen or no more, and, not wishing to 
part with the entire command of the suit, he will 
lead a small one, with the result that a very valu- 
able trick is given away if you have another one. 
Also, the situation will be equally disclosed by the 
fall of your knave on the second round, if you 
play your small one on the first round. Some 
players use this signal equally when they hold 
queen and two others, with a view to showing 

that they can win the third round of the suit, but 
217 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

this is not to be recommended, as it is quite pos- 
sible that the leader may have had six of the suit 
originally, in which case, seeing only two in the 
dummy, he will continue with a third round, when 
one hand will discard and the other ruff, which is 
the worst evil that can happen to the defenders 
early in the game. It is perhaps unnecessary to 
say that the third hand should not show two of 
a suit when he does not want to be forced, either 
because he is strong in trumps, or because he has 
only two and those winning ones, such as ace and 
queen with the king exposed in dummy. 

When queen is led originally, and the king is 
not in dummy, the third hand should always win 
it with the ace. He can gain nothing by holding 
up his ace, therefore he should make it at once, 
and then consider what to do next. 

When a knave is led, the ace should always be 
put on it, unless either the king or queen is in 
dummy. With either the king or queen in dummy, 
the knave should be passed, otherwise both the 
king and queen are left good, and two tricks in 
the suit are lost. It is, of course, possible that 
the knave may be a singleton, but this is a pos- 

218 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

sibility not worth going for, unless there is such 
great strength in dummy that every trick is of 
paramount importance. 

The lead of ace and another signifies one of two 
things, either a suit of four or five headed by the 
ace, or ace and one other only, and it should not 
be difficult for the third hand to determine which 
it is, when he has his own cards and the dummy's 
to guide him. If he has king and three others 
and the dummy puts down queen or knave and 
two others, his partner has led for a ruff and he 
can force him with safety, but if he holds king 
and two others only and the dummy has only 
three, the situation is very doubtful and he must 
be guided by the fall of the intermediate cards, 
always bearing in mind the fact that the dealer 
will play a false card if he can; still the queen 
against him will remain good, if his partner's lead 
was from a five-card suit, and the best chance is 
to have a third round and trust to the lead having 
been from a short suit. 

This exhausts what may be called the strong 
opening leads, and we will proceed to deal with 
some of the other combinations mentioned above. 

219 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

In judging of the import of the original lead the 
personal element counts for a good deal. Some 
players always open from their best suit, and 
others prefer opening a weak suit to leading from 
a guarded one. When the third player knows his 
partner's game, it is generally easy to determine 
what the lead means, but when playing with a 
stranger it is sometimes not so easy. With nothing 
else to guide him, the third player should construe 
the lead of a small card as being from a long suit, 
and he should play his highest, just as he would in 
whist, and use his own judgment as to returning 
the suit. The dummy hand being exposed, there 
is no finessing to be done, excepting when he holds 
ace, knave, and the king or queen is in dummy. 
In this position he must credit his partner with 
the other honour, and finesse the knave, unless he 
has so many of the suit that it is likely to be 
trumped on the next round, or unless he suspects 
his partner of having led a singleton. 

When the opening lead is obviously the highest 
of a weak suit, there is no obligation on the third 
hand to play his highest card ; he must be guided 
by what he sees in dummy. If he can win the 

220 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

trick, either with the ace, or with the king when 
the ace is in dummy, he should always do so ; but 
he should be very chary of parting with a high 
card, which is certain to be overtaken by the 
dealer. Suppose an 8 is led, the third hand holds 
king, 10, 7, 4, and the dummy puts down queen, 
9, 5. The situation here is quite clear ; the leader 
has opened the highest of a weak suit, and the 
leader holds the ace and knave. It would be very 
bad play for the third hand to put on his king; 
he should pass the first trick, or put on the 10 if 
the 8 is covered by dummy, so as not to clear the 
suit for the dealer, and also so as not to give the 
dummy a certain card of entry with the queen. 

When the declaration has been made by dummy, 
and the leader opens with a trump, it does not at 
all follow that he wants the trump suit returned ; 
very far from it. The lead of a trump probably 
means that he has a well-defended hand in the 
plain suits, and wishes to be led up to, rather than 
to have to open one of those suits blindfold. When 
the third hand gets in he should not think of re- 
turning a trump, but should lead his own best suit 

or a strengthening card up to weakness in dummy, 
221 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

and if he gets in again he should rather open an- 
other suit than continue with the same, so as to 
give his partner every chance of making use of 
any tenaces which he may hold. 

The typical sort of hand that a trump is led 
from is such a hand as — 

Hearts — Ace, queen, 4. 
Diamonds — 7, 2. 
Clubs — Queen, 10, 7. 
Spades — King, knave, 8, 3. 

with diamonds declared by the dummy. With 
this hand there can be no possible doubt as to the 
7 of diamonds (trumps) being the right lead, and 
there can also be no doubt that the more often the 
original leader's hand is led up to in different 
suits the better, the last thing that he wishes is to 
have to open any of the plain suits himself. This 
may seem to be rather an exceptionally strong 
hand, but it is given as an instance of the impor- 
tance of being led up to, the strength of the hand 
being enormously reduced directly the lead has to 
come from it instead of up to it. 

We wish to make it quite clear that an original 

lead of a trump through the declaring hand does 
222 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

not indicate strength in trumps, but, on the con- 
trary, it indicates some strength in the other suits, 
and a desire to be led up to in one or more of them, 
and it should be the business of the third hand 
to try to find out which suit his partner wants 
led. 

It is not an uncommon occurrence to hear a good 
player remark to a less-experienced partner at the 
end of a hand, " The last thing that I wanted was 
the return of my lead." He has probably led some- 
thing to try to put his partner in with the object 
of being led up to in another suit, and this object 
is entirely defeated by the prompt return of his 
own lead. Captain Beasley, in his recent book 
"London Bridge," says, "Before returning a 
lead which is going to put your partner in, con- 
sider carefully what he is going to lead next, and 
whether it would not be more advantageous to lead 
out that suit yourself." 

The general principle for the third hand is to 
lead up to weakness in dummy, and, whenever it 
is possible, to lead a card higher than the best in 
dummy. Thus, if he is leading from a suit of 
king, 10, 7, 4 up to 9, 5, 3 in dummy, he should 
223 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

lead the 10, so as to compel the dealer to cover 
with an honour. This lead is quite understood 
among good Bridge players, and there should be 
no danger of his partner assuming that the 10 
is his best because he leads it up to the 9 exposed 
in dummy. 

When there is no pronounced weak suit in 
dummy, an ace is by no means a bad card for the 
third hand to lead up to, unless he has the king 
himself. 

The ace has to make a trick at some time, and 
by leading up to it the third hand will give his 
partner a chance of forcing it out as cheaply as 
possible. Holding knave, 10, and another, the 
knave is a fine card to lead up to an ace. If the 
king and queen are both in the dealer's hand there 
is no harm done, and if either or both of them are 
with the original leader it is clear that the lead of 
the knave must be a very assisting one. 

When a suit declaration has been made by the 
dealer, and the third player is fortunate enough 
to win the first trick, it is often good policy for 
him to lead a trump through the declaring hand 
up to weakness on the table. When the dummy 

224 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

puts down a short suit and two or three small 
trumps it is almost imperative to do so, with the 
view of preventing the dummy making his small 
trumps by ruffing. 

Remember that, just as it is always good play 
to force the strong hand, so it is very bad play to 
allow the weak hand to get in a ruff, if it can 
possibly be avoided. If the dealer has had the 
lead, in either of his two hands, and has not led 
trumps, it is nearly always right for his opponents 
to lead them, as the dealer must clearly have some 
object in not taking the trumps out. Either he 
is trying to establish another suit before leading 
trumps, or he is playing for a ruff in the weak 
hand, and it should be his opponents' object to 
endeavour to thwart his amiable purpose. 

A somewhat similar position is when the dealer 
declares a strong trump, and the dummy puts down 
a long, unestablished suit, with one other certain 
card of entry. The object of the defenders should 
be to get that card of entry out of the dummy 
hand before the trumps can be drawn. Suppose 
that the dealer declares hearts, the dummy puts 
down — 

15 225 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

Hearts — 7, 5. 

Diamonds — Knave, 6, 4. 

Clubs — Aee, 9, 3. 

Spades — Queen, knave, 10, 7, 4. 

The 10 of diamonds is led, and the third player's 

hand is — 

Hearts — 9, 3. 

Diamonds — Ace, queen, 7, 5. 
Clubs — Knave, 10, 6. 
Spades — Ace, 8, 5, 3. 

It requires very little reasoning power to infer 
that the dealer has a strong heart hand, with the 
king of diamonds (marked in his hand), and very 
likely the king of spades as well. The immediate 
object of the third hand, before thinking of any- 
thing else, should be to try to get rid of that ace 
of clubs before the spades can be established. He 
should at once lead the knave of clubs, so that, 
unless the king of clubs is also in the dealer's 
hands, the dummy hand is rendered absolutely 
powerless. If the dealer has everything, the situ- 
ation is hopeless; but so long as that entry card 
remains in dummy there is always the danger of 
the long spade suit being brought in after the 
dealer has exhausted the trumps; therefore the 
entry card should be got rid of at any cost. 

226 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

When his partner has doubled an original suit 
declaration made by the dealer, the third player 
should always lead his highest trump directly he 
gets it. If it should happen that he has an ace, 
king suit, and a second trump, he may lead the 
king first, so as to show his partner how to put 
him in again, and then his best trump; but it 
is highly improbable that he will have such strength 
as this when his partner has doubled. 

When his partner doubles a declaration made 
by the dummy, he must be guided as to his lead 
by the strength exposed on the table. When it 
is a spade call which has been doubled, it is 
nearly always right to lead his best trump, un- 
less, of course, he is leading up to a tenace in 
dummy. 

When the third player holds king and one other 

only of a plain suit, that is, of a suit other than 

trumps, the king followed by the small one is a 

fine lead, if neither the ace nor the queen is in 

dummy. It can do no possible harm, as the king 

is hopelessly dead if both the ace and queen are 

in the dealer's hand; and if his partner has the 

ace, or still better the ace and knave, it becomes 
227 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

a very good lead, and will often enable the third 
player to make a small trump. 

It should not be difficult for the third player, 
after the first card is led and the dummy exposed, 
to form a pretty accurate estimate of the chances 
of the hand, having the light of twenty-seven cards 
to guide him. There are certain obvious infer- 
ences that he can draw. If the dealer has not 
declared No Trumps, and there is only one ace 
apparent in his own hand and the dummy's, his 
partner has certainly got one ace, and very prob- 
ably two, and that represents one or two certain 
tricks. Somebody must have strength in hearts, 
and if the "dealer has declared diamonds or has 
passed the call, and neither the third player nor 
the dummy has much in the heart suit, his partner 
is marked with at least two honours in hearts. If 
the dealer discloses considerable strength in two 
suits, it can safely be assumed that he has little 
or nothing in either of the other two, otherwise 
he would have declared No Trumps. 

The first consideration of the third player should 
be to determine whether his partner has led from 
strength or weakness. If the opening lead is ob- 

228 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

viously from weakness, it must by no means be 
taken for granted that the original leader has 
nothing of value. On the contrary, he very prob- 
ably has one or more guarded suits which he did 
not wish to open, but preferred to have led up to 
him. A slavish adherence to the rule of return- 
ing one's partner's lead is a fatal mistake against 
a suit declaration. The third player has an ab- 
solutely free hand to return his partner's lead, 
or not to do so, as he thinks fit. 

One of the most common mistakes at Bridge, 
and a mistake which sometimes proves very ex- 
pensive, is for the third player to be in too great 
a hurry to lead out an ace, because there is only 
one card of the suit in dummy. 

If there is any chance of dummy's singleton 

being discarded on another suit, the ace should 

be led at once, or it may never make a trick 

at all, but when dummy has three or four 

cards of each of the other plain suits, there 

can be no possible chance of his being able to 

discard his singleton, and it will not melt away 

into thin air. 

By leading out his ace, the third player not only 
229 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

parts voluntarily with a certain card of re-entry, 
but he also runs a considerable risk of clearing 
the suit for his adversary, the dealer. A hand 
which afforded a striking illustration of this dan- 
ger occurred quite recently at a London Bridge 
club. 

The four hands were as follows : — 

Hearts — Queen, 8. 
Diamonds — Ace, queen. 
Clubs — Queen, knave, 10, 5, 2. 
Spades — King, 7, 4, 3. 



Hearts — Knave, 6, 2. 




Y 


Diamonds — 8, 5. 






Clubs — King, 6, 4. 


A 


B 


Spades — Queen, 




(dummy) 


knave, 10, 8, 2. 




Z 



Hearts — Ace, king, 

10, 9, 3. 
Diamonds — Knave, 

9, 7, 4. 
Clubs — 9, 7, 3. 
Spades — 6. 



Hearts — 7, 5, 4. 
Diamonds — King, 10, 6, 3, 2. 
Clubs — Ace, 8. 
Spades — Ace, 9, 5. 

The score was one game all, and A B 12, Y Z 24. 
A dealt and left it to B, who declared hearts. Y 
led the queen of clubs, which Z won with the ace. 
Instead of returning the 8 of clubs, Z first led out 
230 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

the ace of spades, saying, as he did so, " We will 
secure that trick while there is yet time." He did 
secure it, but by so doing he gave away two tricks 
and lost the game and rubber. 

He then led the 8 of clubs, which he should have 
done at first, and the dealer won the trick with the 
king. The dealer could now see that there was a 
possibility of winning the game, if the queen of 
trumps was singly guarded, so he went boldly for 
it and it came off. He first led the queen of 
spades, which Y was obliged to cover with his 
king, then led out the ace and king of trumps 
from dummy, and, the queen falling, he was 
able to put his own hand in again with the 
knave of trumps, and to make three tricks in 
spades, thus winning three by cards, the game, 
and rubber. 

If the ace of spades had not been led out, the 
utmost that the dealer could hope for, even at 
doubly dummy, would have been to win the odd 
trick, and even that was by no means a cer- 
tainty. In this case there was not the remotest 
possibility of B being able to discard his single 

spade, as Y had shown the club suit, and Z him- 
231 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

self had the diamonds, therefore there was no 
danger, and Z could stop the spade suit at any 
time. 

The man who made this faux pas was no begin- 
ner at the game, but a player of many years' 
experience, who fancies himself and his own 
methods considerably, and is rather fond of laying 
down the law to others. When the hand was 
over and the game lost, he remarked that it was a 
most unlucky lead, but there was no element of 
luck about it at all. It was sheer bad play, and 
nothing else. 

When the third player returns his partner's lead 

he should observe the old whist rule of returning 

the higher of two remaining, or the lowest of three, 

unless he has the best card of the suit, in which 

case he should always lead that. In the No 

Trump game it is sometimes advisable to give 

away one trick in a suit in the hope of being able 

to make two or three tricks later on, but this must 

never be done against a strong suit declaration, as 

there is too great a danger of one's winning cards 

being trumped on the second or third round, and 

of never making them at all. Every certain trick 
232 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

is now of vital importance, and should be made 
sure of without loss of time. Nothing is more 
annoying than to go to bed, as it is called, with one 
or two winning cards, simply because one would 
not make them when one had the chance. 

One of the most important, and at the same time 
one of the most difficult, points in the play at 
Bridge is to be able to extract the greatest value 
out of a hand against a strong suit declaration. 
There are many players who can be trusted to 
extract the full value out of the two hands when 
they have the deal, but the players who can defend 
a hand really well, especially against a suit decla- 
ration, are few and far between. This is where 
the best American players are so much in front 
of our best English players. They can defend a 
hand very much better. Against a No Trump call 
the play is easier, as the opening leads are clearly 
defined and well known, and the attack is usually 
continued on the opening lines, but against a suit 
declaration a great deal depends upon the intelli- 
gence of the third player. The leading principles 
for him to go upon are : to give his partner every 
opportunity of making a ruff, to force the strong 
233 



PLAY OF THIRD HAND AGAINST A SUIT 

hand as often as possible, to lead through strength 
and up to weakness, and, above all, always to make 
sure of saving the game as early in the hand as he 
can, before he allows himself to think about subse- 
quent possibilities. 



234 



CHAPTEE XII 

THE DEFENDER'S PLAY AS SECOND HAND 

" Second hand plays low " is almost as good a 
maxim at Bridge as it was at whist, but the fact 
that the dummy hand is exposed at Bridge gives 
the second player rather more opportunity of exer- 
cising his intelligence than he had at whist, when 
the other three hands were all unknown quantities. 
The second hand is the hand which is led through, 
whether the lead comes from the dealer or from 
the dummy. In speaking of the second hand it 
must be understood that we are referring only to 
the play of the defenders, not to the play of the 
dealer when his opponents have the lead. 

Always to cover an honour led, if he has less 
than four of the suit, is an excellent general prin- 
ciple for the second player, but he must be guided 
a little by the cards exposed in dummy. When 

the dealer leads the queen of a suit, up to ace and 
235 



DEFENDER'S PLAY AS SECOND HAND 

others in dummy, and the second hand has king 

with one or two others, he should always cover the 

queen. He can gain nothing by passing, as the ace 

will not be put on the queen, and his only chance 

of winning a trick in the suit lies in his partner 

holding the knave or 10. Some players cannot 

bear to sacrifice a high card in such a position, and 

many a trick is given away by the second hand 

refusing to cover an honour. In a IsTo Trump 

game, if the second hand holds king and three 

others, he should not cover a queen led, when ace 

and two others are in dummy, as it is obvious that 

his king must become good on the fourth round, 

but against a suit declaration there is no fourth 

round, and the second player should always play 

his king on a queen led, however many he has. If 

he has four or five of the suit, and the dummy has 

three, either the dealer or his partner must be short 

in it, and the queen is very possibly a single card. 

Holding king, queen, and one other, or queen, 

knave, and one other, the second hand should 

always " split his honours " and play one of them 

when a small card is led. It is one of the many 

positions at Bridge when he can lose nothing by so 
236 



DEFENDER'S PLAY AS SECOND HAND 

doing, and may gain. If the ace is over his king 
and queen suit, the most that he can do is to win 
one trick in the suit, unless his partner holds the 
knave, in which case there is nothing lost by his 
putting on the queen second in hand. 

When the dealer leads a knave up to ace, 10, 
and others in dummy, or a 10 up to ace, knave, 
and others, and the second hand has king or queen 
guarded, he should always cover with his high 
card. His partner is practically marked with the 
other honour, and will be able to win the first trick 
if the second hand passes it; but the remaining 
honour will then be hopelessly boxed in, and the 
only chance of winning two tricks in the suit is 
for his partner to hold the 9 in addition to his 
king or queen. 

When the dealer leads up to ace, queen, 10 in 

dummy, or when he leads the 10 up to ace, queen 

and others, and the second hand holds king, knave 

and another, he should play the king and not the 

knave on the first round. If he plays the knave 

the dummy will win it with the queen, and the 

situation will be quite clear to the dealer, whereas 

if the second hand puts on the king, the ace will 
237 



DEFENDER'S PLAY AS SECOND HAND 

have to take it and the dealer will be very liable 
to place the knave in the other hand. Just as it 
is desirable at all times to give information to one's 
partner, so it is equally undesirable to give un- 
necessary information to one's opponents, and this 
is just one of the occasions when it is possible to 
deceive an opponent without doing any harm to 
one's partner. 

When the whole strength in a suit is marked 
against him it is useless for the second hand to 
cover an honour led. Thus, suppose the dealer 
leads the knave of a suit, of which the second hand 
holds king and two others, and the dummy has 
ace, queen, 10 to five, the second player can gain 
nothing by covering the knave, as, if the dealer 
has another one to lead, the fourth player can have 
only three, and every card in the suit is good 
against him; therefore he should pass the knave 
and pray that the dealer may not have another 
one to lead. Holding king and one other only, 
with the ace, queen, knave lying over him in 
dummy, the second hand should not play the king 
when the suit is first led through him, and then 

say that it did not matter as his king was dead 
238 



DEFENDER'S PLAY AS SECOND HAND 

in any case. He must remember that the dealer 
is not to know that the king is singly guarded, 
and he will have to use an entry card to put his 
own hand in again in order to lead the suit a 
second time, and every entry card taken out of 
the dealer's hand is a distinct gain. 

When the second hand, playing before dummy, 
can win the trick cheaply, as against dummy, he 
should always do so, in order to protect his part- 
ner's hand, but he should never put on an ace, 
second in hand, whatever is in dummy, unless it 
is very important for him to get the lead. A 
common instance of this is when the dealer leads 
a small card up to king, knave, and others in 
dummy, and the second hand has ace with one 
or two small ones. Unless one trick will save the 
game, or unless he particularly wants the lead, 
he should not put on his ace but should play a 
small one, so as to give his partner a chance of 
making the queen if the dealer finesses the king, 
knave. These are the general principles which 
should govern the play of the second hand. 



239 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE DISCAED 

We now arrive at the rather vexed question of 
the correct discard. One of the most remarkable 
features in the history of the game of Bridge is 
the way in which this question has been magnified 
and exalted altogether out of its proper place, 
until it has assumed an importance which in no 
way rightly belongs to it. The probable explana- 
tion of this phenomenon is, that the subject is 
one which rather lends itself to theoretical vapour- 
ings, and there are certain writers on the game 
who are fond of arguing a question from every 
possible point of view, some of whom have pub- 
lished elaborate statistics as to what should be 
the correct discard under seven or eight differing 
conditions. Such statistics may possibly be in- 
teresting reading for people who have nothing else 

to do, but, as regards throwing any light on the 
240 



THE DISCARD 

actual practice of the game, they are absolutely 
valueless and impossible. Then, again, some bril- 
liant genius has evolved the idea of a " circular 
discard." This is an extraordinary contrivance 
by which a player is supposed to understand that, 
if his partner discards a diamond, he is strong in 
hearts, and that when he discards a heart he wants 
the spade suit led to him. We have no available 
information as to whether the game of Bridge is 
popular either at Colney Hatch or at Earlswood, 
but, if it is, we strongly recommend the " circular 
discard " to the serious attention of dwellers in 
those localities. 

We do not say for a moment that the discard is 
of no importance in Bridge, but that it is a minor 
point, not to be compared in importance to several 
other points in the game, such as the original 
opening lead against a suit declaration, or the 
play of the third hand in a ISTo Trump game. 
Occasionally the result of a hand will turn on 
information conveyed by a discard, but only very 
occasionally, and the experienced player attaches 
far less importance to the discard than the inex- 
perienced player does, because he realises the fact 
16 241 



THE DISCARD 

that it is often a forced one. For instance, hold- 
ing queen, 5, 2 of clubs, and ace, 5, 2 of spades, 
it requires no great acumen, or scientific knowl- 
edge of Bridge, to see that the 2 of shades is a 
better discard than the 2 of clubs, but no infer- 
ence can be drawn from this. The spade suit is 
undoubtedly the stronger of the two, but still the 
2 of spades is the right discard, irrespective of 
any conventions. The real way to arrive at the 
meaning of a convention is to consider how it 
originated. Suppose that a player had to make 
two or three discards, simply on his own hand, 
with no knowledge of conventional methods of 
conveying information to his partner, what would 
he do ? Would he not discard cards which could 
be of no possible use, either as trick-making fac- 
tors in themselves or as guards to higher cards ? 
Again, if great strength was declared against him, 
and he held one long suit which he could see no 
reasonable chance of bringing in, would he not 
throw away from that long suit in preference to 
unguarding a card of another suit, which might 
possibly save a trick at the finish, if it remained 
guarded? Hence arose the two conventions of 

242 



THE DISCARD 

the discard from weakness and the discard from 
strength. 

The principle was well illustrated by the remark 
of a level-headed north-country man who came 
out racing last year. One evening he was induced 
to make up a rubber of Bridge, and, when he was 
asked by his partner whether he discarded from 
strength or weakness, he replied, " I should be a 
dom'd fool to throw away my good cards when I 
had got bad ones, should n't I ? " That was his 
natural way of looking at it, being entirely igno- 
rant of any conventions on the subject. All these 
stereotyped conventions, from which so much in- 
formation is supposed to be drawn, are really 
detrimental to the finer points of play. They are 
the refuge of the inefficient player, who is unable 
to draw his own conclusions. 

The late Mr. Fred Lewis, one of the very finest 
whist players who ever lived, used to say that 
the introduction of the call for trumps robbed him 
of a great part of his scientific advantage in the 
play of the cards. Certainly, he had a marvellous, 
almost instinctive, knowledge of the right moment 
to lead trumps, but the so-called " peter " placed 

243 



THE DISCARD 

any ordinary bungler, provided that he could see 
an obvious call for trumps, on the same level with 
himself, and thereby his advantage was to a great 
extent nullified. Precisely the same argument ap- 
plies, only more strongly, to the discard at Bridge. 
The first-rate Bridge player is quite capable of 
gauging the possibilities of his partner's hand for 
himself, with the assistance of the exposed dummy, 
and of arriving at the signification of his part- 
ner's discards, but this puts the inferior player, 
who is not capable of so doing, at a manifest dis- 
advantage ; therefore, to protect the inferior player 
against superior skill, certain prearranged methods 
of play, called conventions, are agreed upon, with 
the result that many of the finer points of play 
are sacrificed thereby. 

Having said so much about the general principle 
of the discard, we will proceed to discuss the two 
recognised systems, the discard from weakness, 
and the discard from strength — no other system 
is worth talking about. 

There are two entirely different systems of dis- 
carding at Bridge — from weakness and from 
strength — and both systems apply equally to a 

244 



THE DISCARD 

suit declaration and to the ISTo Trump game. The 
discard from weakness means that a player's first 
discard is always from his weakest suit, and his 
second discard from the other suit, which he does 
not wish led to him, so that, by a simple process of 
deduction, his partner can arrive at a knowledge of 
what he does want. 

The discard from strength is exactly the op- 
posite. Under this system a player's first discard 
is always from the suit which he wishes led to him, 
so that the position is at once clearly defined. The 
system of the discard from weakness is not really 
a convention, or prearranged method of play; it 
simply resulted from the fact that a player would 
naturally discard cards which were of no use to 
him. It has obtained since the first introduction 
of Bridge into England, and it was universally 
adopted among English players until some four 
years ago, when the American system of discard- 
ing from strength was first introduced into this 
country. 

This system, invented by American players, is 
an arbitrary convention, designed, like most other 
conventions, to render the game easier for the 

245 



THE DISCARD 

unintelligent player. It is generally adopted in 
America, but not universally, some of the best 
players on the other side preferring our system of 
the discard from weakness. The proportion of 
American players who adopt the weak discard is 
about the same as the proportion of English 
players who adopt the other system at the present 
time. 

Both systems have their advantages, and both 
have their disadvantages. The advantages of the 
strong discard over the weak one are (1) that only 
one discard instead of two is required to indicate 
a player's best suit, and (2) that the discard from 
the strong suit often enables a player to keep 
better guards in his weaker suits, which is some- 
times of great importance. For instance, with 
such a hand as queen and two others in each of 
two suits, and king, queen to four or five in the 
third, the advocate of the weak discard is at a 
great disadvantage. He does not want to unguard 
either of his two queens, but if he discards from 
the third suit, he is at once giving false informa- 
tion to his partner. The disadvantages of the 
strong discard are also twofold: (1) a trick is 

246 



THE DISCARD 

sometimes given away by discarding a card of the 
strong suit, which would eventually have won a 
trick if retained, and (2) the suit which a player 
wishes led to him may be one from which he can- 
not discard, except at a grave disadvantage, such 
a suit as ace, queen, knave only, or king, queen, 
10 only, with the knave behind him. In either 
of these cases he, in his turn, is obliged to deceive 
his partner by discarding from a suit which he 
does not wish led. 

A few weeks ago a letter appeared in the Bridge 
column of Vanity Fair, from an anonymous corre- 
spondent, throwing quite a new light upon the 
respective merits of the two systems. The writer 
advocated the discard from strength in preference 
to the discard from weakness, on the ground that, 
by discarding from strength, a player was able 
to indicate his best suit to his partner, leaving his 
opponent in doubt as to which was his weakest. 
On the other hand, the discard from weakness 
would at once inform his opponent which was his 
worst suit, but would leave his partner in doubt 
as to which was his best. This is a fresh view 

of the situation, which we have never heard of 
247 



THE DISCARD 

before, and it seems to bear the brand of sound 
common sense, but it is not altogether convincing. 

These are the two systems, with their respective 
advantages and disadvantages, and the balance of 
profit and loss appears fairly even between them. 
Probably the discard from strength is the stronger 
weapon of defence, especially in the No Trump 
game, but uniformity is the great object to aim 
at, and as the weak suit system is the established 
and general custom in England, it is better for 
English players to abide by that, rather than to 
complicate the game further. There are many 
good players in London who think that the discard 
from strength is the better of the two, but who do 
not adopt it, for the above reason, and the soundest 
advice that can be given to beginners is to follow 
the prevalent custom and to discard from the suits 
which they do not wish led to them. The matter 
is really of no great importance, as we have already 
said, but so much rubbish has been written about 
it that it is necessary to put the merits of both 
systems clearly before our readers. 

We strongly caution inexperienced players 

against attaching too much importance to their 

248 



THE DISCARD 

partner's discard. One sometimes hears a player 
say, after the hand is over, " I was obliged to lead 
you such and such a suit because you asked for it," 
when really he had a much better game of his own. 
Just as it is a fatal mistake to play entirely for 
one's own hand, so it is at times equally fatal to 
play entirely for one's partner's; a happy com- 
bination of the two hands is the object to strive for. 
Because a partner has indicated his best suit by 
his discard, it does not necessarily follow that he 
is very strong in that suit ; it only shows that that 
suit is the best that he has, and it may be a very 
weak one. The strong player will not infrequently 
disregard his partner's discard altogether, either 
when he has a better game of his own or when he 
can see the saving of the game by playing differ- 
ently. Much harm is often done, and many a 
game has been lost, by a slavish attention to a 
partner's discard. By all means watch his dis- 
card carefully, and lead him the indicated suit, 
if there is any doubt about what to lead, but do not 
run away with the idea that because your partner 
has discarded from two suits he is necessarily very 
strong in the third. The poor fellow has to discard 

249 



THE DISCARD 

something, however impotent his hand may be, 
and the utmost that he can do for you is to show 
you where his greatest weakness lies ; but that does 
not presuppose great or even moderate strength 
elsewhere. 

The advocate of the weak suit discard is some- 
times in a position to indicate his strong suit to his 
partner by the more simple process of discarding 
a high card from it. Thus, to take an extreme 
instance, holding ace, king, queen, knave, and 
others of a suit, he can safely discard the ace, with- 
out running any risk, and his partner will imme- 
diately place him with the entire command of that 
suit. Similarly, if he discards the king of a suit 
which has not been led, he is marked with queen, 
knave, and others, and so on. By a logical exten- 
sion of this principle it has come to be understood 
that, whenever a player discards an unnecessarily 
high card, either against a suit declaration or in a 
No Trump game, he has considerable strength in 
that suit, and wishes it led to him. This is known 
as the " call for a suit," and it is a very useful con- 
vention, founded on the lines of the " peter," or 
call for trumps, at whist. Before making use of 

250 



THE DISCARD 

this convention a player should be sure that he will 
have the opportunity of discarding twice, other- 
wise he may be deceiving his partner instead of 
giving him information. It has frequently hap- 
pened that a player has commenced to call for a 
suit, but has not had the opportunity of completing 
his call before his partner has obtained the lead; 
and then, of course, instead of improving the 
situation, the attempted call will have upset it 
altogether, as the first discard, without the second 
one, will naturally be taken to indicate weakness 
instead of strength. For this reason, the first 
discard in a call should always be the highest card 
of the suit which can safely be spared, so that 
a clever partner may jump at the situation and 
understand that it is the beginning of a call, when 
a fairly high card, such as a 9 or a 10, is discarded. 
Supposing that a player wishes to call for a suit of 
which he holds ace, king, 10, 9, 5, 2, the 10, and not 
the 5, is the proper card to discard first, because 
the discard of the 5 would only indicate weakness, 
whereas the first discard of a 10 is something a 
little out of the common, and should at once set 

his partner thinking. 

251 



THE DISCARD 

It is always bad to blank a suit altogether by- 
discarding the last card of it, as the position will 
be at once disclosed on the first round, and the 
dealer can then place every card in that suit 
and finesse to any extent against the other part- 
ner. Also, it is bad play to unguard an ace, 
unless it can only be kept guarded at the ex- 
pense of throwing away winning, or more useful 
cards. 

The first discard should always be made with 
the object of giving information to one's partner. 
It is waste of an opportunity to discard from a 
suit which he knows one cannot want led. The 
following is an instance of this. The third player's 
hand is — 

Hearts — Queen, 7, 6, 2. Clubs — King, knave, 9, 3. 
Diamonds — 8, 7. Spades — 10, 7, 4. 

The dummy, who has declared No Trumps, puts 
down — 

Hearts — Ace, 10, 4. Clubs — Ace, queen, 6. 

Diamonds — Ace, king, queen, 9. Spades — 9, 6, 3. 

The leader opens with four winning spades, and 

the third hand has to discard on the fourth 
252 



THE DISCARD 

round. His weak suit is diamonds, but the 7 of 
diamonds would be a very bad discard, as it 
would tell his partner nothing, and would leave 
him to guess between the other two suits. The 
proper discard is the 2 of hearts, so as to make 
it plain to his partner, who can see that the dia- 
mond suit is against them, that a club is the 
desired lead. 

If a player discards a diamond in such a situa- 
tion as this, it can only be taken to mean that it is 
immaterial to him which of the other two suits is 
led, and his partner must then play entirely for his 
own hand. Following out the same sequence of 
ideas, if the third player's hearts and clubs were 
of no value, he then ought to discard a diamond, so 
as to say to his partner, " You cannot help me by 
leading any suit; you must play for your own 
hand," and an intelligent partner would read it 
in that way, and would probably put the dummy in 
with a diamond so as to get his own hand led up to. 
This is an instance of what is meant by discarding 
with intelligence, as against discarding by fixed 
rule. 

In the early stages of a hand the discard is fairly 

253 



THE DISCARD 

simple, but towards the end of the hand, when 
there are only four or five cards left, it is often 
very difficult. As a general rule, a player should 
endeavour to keep a guard in the suit which his 
partner is discarding, and should not hesitate 
to unguard the suit which his partner is keep- 
ing, so as to divide the defence between the 
two hands. The dealer will lead out any win- 
ning cards which he has, so as to force discards 
from his opponents, and their aim must be to 
give him as little information as possible, and 
no inference can be drawn from these forced 
discards. 

The state of the score affects the discard at the 
end of a hand very strongly. When a player can 
see that the game is lost unless a certain card is in 
his partner's hand, he should discard as though 
that card were marked there, and not think of 
keeping guards which might possibly save a trick 
but could not save the game. It is more than 
useless to throw away a possible winning card in 
order to keep the queen of another suit doubly 
guarded, when the game is obviously lost unless 
one's partner holds the ace or king of it, yet it is 

254 



THE DISCARD 

constantly done, and then the offending player 
will say, " The game could have been saved, but I 
did not dare to unguard my queen." It was the 
only possible chance, but how often is that one 
chance missed. 



255 



CHAPTEE XIV 

THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

The methods employed by the dealer in playing 
his cards should be quite different from those em- 
ployed by his opponents. There is now no ques- 
tion of giving information to a partner ; there are 
no conventional methods of play to be observed, no 
signals to be given or watched for, and no obli- 
gation to play the cards in any particular order. 
The dealer has an entirely free hand, unfettered 
by any conventions, and, so far from giving in- 
formation, it should be his object to withhold it 
by every means in his power, and to deceive his 
opponents by playing false cards, or by any other 
artifice which may suggest itself to him. No for- 
mulated rules of play can be laid down for his 
guidance. All that can be done is to give a few 
hints, the result of long practice and experience, 
which may possibly be of use to the inexperienced 

player, by showing him how the strength of the 
256 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

two hands which are temporarily under his charge 
can be combined to the greatest advantage. These 
hints can be better illustrated by examples than by 
explanations, therefore we propose to quote a few 
hands, and to play them out, card by card, giving 
the reasons for the methods of play adopted. 

The first and most important point is to study 
carefully the two hands, _ directly the dummy is 
exposed, to note where they will combine to advan- 
tage and where the principal danger lies, and then 
and there to form a definite plan of campaign, 
either offensive or defensive, as the case may be. 
As soon as the first card is led, the dummy hand is 
exposed on the table, and if the dealer cannot form 
a fairly correct estimate of the probable result of 
the hand when he has twenty-seven cards to guide 
him, and has the manipulation of twenty-six of 
them, he ought not to play Bridge at all. 

The dealer should always make this mental 

estimate at the beginning of every hand, whether 

there is a trump suit or whether there are No 

Trumps. It will be of the greatest use to him as a 

guide to his subsequent proceedings. He should 

first make a note in his own mind of how many 
17 257 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

tricks he is bound to lose, and of how many more 
he may lose if the cards lie adversely for him, and 
then he will be able to realise the possibilities of 
the hand, given an ordinary distribution of the 
cards. If the cards are very unevenly divided, he 
will probably have to remodel his plan of cam- 
paign, or to abandon it altogether and form an- 
other, but the great point is that he should always 
have some definite plan in his head, and not drift 
on aimlessly, trusting to chance for something to 
turn up in his favour. 

He should never be in a hurry to play from 
dummy's hand to the first trick, nor should he 
allow himself to be bustled by an irritable opponent 
saying, " Surely there cannot be any doubt which 
of those two cards to play." That is not the point. 
The dealer is not considering which of dummy's 
cards he shall play, but he is reviewing his forces, 
and forming his plan of campaign, and he is quite 
entitled to keep the game waiting for a few 
moments for that purpose. 

The result of a ~No Trump game generally de- 
pends a great deal upon the suit originally opened. 
The exact value of the card led should be carefully 

258 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

noted by the dealer and remembered. When the 
lowest card of a suit is led, the leader is marked 
with four exactly, but when a medium card, such 
as six or seven, is led, the lead is probably from 
five or more, and a fairly accurate opinion can be 
formed as to how many of that suit the leader's 
partner is likely to have. Also, the Eleven Rule 
can be applied by the dealer quite as well as by his 
opponents. The value of the card originally led 
will sometimes show him, thanks to the Eleven 
Rule, how he can win a trick cheaply in the 
dummy hand. For instance, an 8 is led, the dealer 
holds king and one other, and the dummy puts 
down ace, 10, and a small one. The 10 is a cer- 
tain winning card, if it is played on the first 
round, and the dealer will win three tricks in the 
suit, whereas, if he passes the 8 and wins the first 
trick with the king, he will only win two. If a 
smaller card than the 8 were led, the 10 must not 
be played on the first round, in the hope that the 
third hand will play either the queen or the knave, 
leaving the major tenace in dummy. 

When the dealer has good protection in the suit 

originally opened, that is, when he can stop it 
259 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

twice, he is in a fine position to play boldly for a 
big game and to take doubtful finesses, but when 
it can only be stopped once there is considerable 
danger, and the dealer should hold up his one 
winning card as long as possible, until the original 
leader's partner is exhausted. When the dealer 
and his dummy are both very weak in the original 
suit, he must at once resign himself to lose four or 
five tricks in it, and he should then ask himself 
what the opponent's next lead is likely to be, after 
their own suit is finished, and should discard and 
regulate his game accordingly. 

The following hand is a good illustration of the 
importance of forming a definite plan of campaign 
before playing to the first trick. 

A B are partners against Y Z. Score, love all. 
A deals and declares 'No Trumps. 



A's hand. 
Hearts — Ace, 3, 2. 
Diamonds — Ace, 10, 6, 3. 
Clubs — Queen, 5. 
Spades — Ace, king, 5, 4. 



B's hand ( exposed ) . 
Hearts — Queen, knave, 9. 
Diamonds — Knave, 2. 
Clubs — King, knave, 10, 9, 4. 
Spades — 8, 7, 3. 



Y leads the 6 of hearts. A at once reviews the 
situation, and can see a certainty of winning the 



260 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

game, if lie can bring in B's club suit; but to do 
this B must have a card of re-entry, as the adverse 
ace of clubs is certain to be held up until the sec- 
ond or third round. The only suit in which B can 
have a re-entry card is hearts, and then only if 
A's ace is played on the first round ; therefore the 
9, not the knave, should be played from B's hand, 
and the trick must be won with the ace, whether Z 
is able to beat the 9 or not. A then leads the queen 
of clubs followed by the 5 and the club suit is 
established, and B has a certain re-entry card in 
hearts to bring the clubs in with. If A does 
not part with his ace of hearts on the first trick, 
he will never be able to put B's hand in again, 
as the next two tricks in hearts will be won 
by the ace and king. This is quite a simple 
instance, but it is an opportunity which might 
easily be missed, if the dealer played too quickly 
and allowed his partner's knave or 9 to win the 
first trick. 

Our next example is taken from the Illustrative 
Games in " Bridge Abridged." 

Score, love all. A deals and declares No 
Trumps. 

261 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 



A's hand. 
Hearts — 9, 4, 3. 
Diamonds — King, 5. 
Clubs — Ace, king, queen, 

knave, 6, 5. 
Spades — King, 2. 



B's hand (exposed). 
Hearts — Ace, queen, 8, 5, 2. 
Diamonds — 9, 6. 
Clubs — 10, 3. 

Spades — Knave, 9, 7, 6. 



Y leads the 6 of hearts. A can see an absolute 
certainty of winning the odd trick and a strong 
probability of winning the game by putting the ace 
of hearts on at once. Z is marked with one heart, 
and one only, and that one is either the king, 
knave, or 10, as Y would have led an honour if he 
had held all three. A can make the ace of hearts 
and six clubs, which will give him the odd trick, 
and he will then put Y in with a heart and force 
him to lead up to one of his two guarded kings, 
and he will make one of his kings and at least one 
other heart, giving him the game. This hand 
occurred in actual play, and the dealer finessed 
the queen of hearts, found the king single over 
him, and lost two by cards instead of winning the 
game. 

This disaster no doubt occurred through the 
dealer playing to the first trick too quickly, and 
taking the ordinary ace, queen finesse, without 

262 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

giving himself time to study the possibilities of the 
two hands. 

We will now take an instance of a plan of cam- 
paign with a suit declaration. 

Score, love all. A deals and declares hearts. 



A's hand. 
Hearts — Ace, 8, 6, 5, 4, 2. 
Diamonds — Queen, 4. 
Clubs — King, queen, 10, 3. 
Spades — 6. 



B's hand (exposed). 
Hearts — King, 3. 
Diamonds — Ace, knave, 7, 3, 2. 
Clubs — Knave, 6, 5. 
Spades — Queen, knave, 2. 



Y leads ace of spades. A's review of the hands 
tells him that he must lose one trick in hearts 
(trumps), one in clubs, and one in spades, and 
there was a chance of losing one in diamonds if the 
king is in Z's hand; but Y's lead of the ace of 
spades has helped the dealer very much, and he 
can now see his way to the game. Y's next lead is 
a small diamond. A must on no account finesse, 
but must put on the ace at once, and lead the queen 
of spades. The king is marked in Z's hand and 
will be put on, A trumps it, then leads out his ace 
and another trump, putting B in, leads the knave 
of spades and discards his queen of diamonds, and 
the game is won, unless there are four trumps in 

263 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

one hand, in which case it could never have been 
won. 

Very simple — too simple, possibly some of 
our readers may say — but the opportunities for 
playing brilliant coups are few and far between, 
whereas the opportunity of making the most out 
of a hand is always there. It is not playing coups, 
it is never missing one of these simple opportuni- 
ties that constitutes the first-class and successful 
Bridge player. 

The first consideration of the dealer, after he 
has formed his plan of campaign, should be to 
block the suit originally opened by holding up a 
winning card of it, if possible, until the third hand 
is exhausted. Even when the dealer has two win- 
ning cards in the suit opened, it is generally the 
best policy to give away the first trick, unless he 
can see a certainty of winning the game, or unless 
there is imminent danger in the opening of a fresh 
suit by his opponents. 

For example, suppose the dealer holds ace and 

two small ones, and the dummy puts down king 

and one small one, he should allow the third hand 

to win the first trick. The suit is certain to be re- 
264 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

turned, and it is now effectually blocked, especially 
if, as is more than probable, the original lead was 
from a five-card suit. Most players will hold up 
one winning card, in order to block the suit origi- 
nally led, but it does not seem to occur to them 
that it is better still to hold up two. 

An excellent general rule for the guidance of 
the dealer is to go at once for the suit of which 
he has the greatest number in the two hands com- 
bined, but, given two suits of nearly equal length, 
he should always go first for the one in which 
dummy holds the strength, for the obvious reason 
that the opponents, seeing dummy's cards, are cer- 
tain to keep any guards that they have in his strong 
suit, whereas they may discard from the dealer's 
long suit, which is not exposed, and by so doing 
make the establishment of it much more easy. 

The dealer should play false cards from his 

own hand whenever he can, but he must do so with 

intelligence, otherwise he gives away information 

instead of withholding it. " Badsworth " very 

rightly says that some players seem to borrow their 

tactics from the ostrich, which believes that it can 

escape observation by burying its head in the sand. 
265 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

As an instance of this, he quotes the common error 
of a player, who holds ace and king of a suit of 
which the queen is led, winning the first trick with 
the ace instead of the king, under the impression 
that he is deceiving his adversaries. On the con- 
trary, by so doing he tells the third player, as 
plainly as if he had shown him the card, that he 
holds the king in addition, as nobody would lead 
the queen from a suit headed by king, queen, 
whereas the lead of the queen is often from ace, 
queen, knave, and, when there is any chance of 
that combination, it is obligatory on the third 
hand to return the lead at once. It may be rather 
a revelation to some players to learn that the value 
of false-carding by the dealer is greater with small 
cards than with high ones. When playing family 
Bridge, against opponents who do not notice 
whether the dealer plays a 7 or a 2, as long as he 
does not win the trick, such refinements are alto- 
gether wasted; but, in these advanced times, the 
best players pay very careful attention to the fall 
of the low cards and draw deductions therefrom, 
and it should be the business of the dealer to cloud 

their conversation as much as possible — to quote 
266 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

" Badsworth " again — by playing his small cards 
as much out of order as he can. 

A ruse, which has often been brought off with 
success, is for the dealer to open a suit, directly he 
gets in, in which he is entirely undefended, with 
the object of keeping his opponents off it. It must 
be done at once, without a moment's hesitation, 
and even then experienced players will often see 
through it, but sometimes it is the only chance of 
winning a game. The following case, which oc- 
curred in actual play, is a good example of this. 
The third game of the rubber. Score, A B love, 
Y Z 24. A dealt and left it to B, who declared 
!No Trumps. 



B's hand (exposed). 
Hearts — Ace, queen, knave, 2. 
Diamonds — Ace, 8, 5, 3. 
Clubs — Knave, 10, 4. 
Spades — King, 5. 



A's hand. 
Hearts — 7, 3. 
Diamonds — King, 9, 6,4. 
Clubs — 8, 3. 

Spades — Queen, knave, 10, 
8,2. 

Y led the 6 of hearts. A reviewed the situation, 

and saw at once that, presuming the king of hearts 

to be in Y's hand, which it was, he must still lose 

the ace of spades and at least four clubs, so that 

the game could not be won, if once his opponents 

led the club suit, which they were certain to do 
267 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

under ordinary circumstances. He won the first 
trick with the knave of hearts, and then, without 
hesitating a moment, led the knave of clubs from 
B's hand. The opponents' hands were : — 



Y's hand. 
Hearts — King, 10, 9, 6, 4. 
Diamonds — Knave, 7, 2. 
Clubs — King, queen, 7. 
Spades — 4, 3. 



Z's hand. 
Hearts — 8, 5. 
Diamonds — Queen, 10. 
Clubs — Ace, 9, 6, 5, 2. 
Spades — Ace, 9, 7, 6. 



Z passed the knave of clubs, and Y played a silly 
false card, winning the trick with the king, thereby 
marking the queen, from his partner's point of 
view, in A's hand. Y then led the 4 of spades, B's 
king was put on, and Z won with the ace and re- 
turned the 6, and then the trouble began. A 
made his four remaining spades, discarding two 
diamonds and one club from B's hand. Y had also 
to make three discards. He was obliged to keep 
three hearts, so he discarded two diamonds and one 
heart, and A B won five by cards, instead of win- 
ning the odd trick only, as must have happened if 
A had attempted to clear his spade suit at trick 2, 
instead of taking the one chance that there was of 
winning the game. 

The following is yet another illustration of the 

value of a carefully thought out plan of campaign 
268 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

on the part of the dealer. Score, one game all; 
A B 6, Y Z 24. A deals and leaves it to B, who 
declares ISTo Trumps. 



A'b hand. 
Hearts — Ace, 7, 5. 
Diamonds — Queen, 8, 3. 
Clubs — Knave, 6, 4. 
Spades — Queen, 7, 6, 3. 



B's hand ( exposed ) . 
Hearts — King, knave, 4, 2. 
Diamonds — Knave, 6, 2. 
Clubs — King, 7. 
Spades — Ace, king, 10, 4. 



Y leads 3 of hearts. A B require eight tricks to 
win the game. A can see a practical certainty of 
four tricks in spades, a certainty (provided he 
plays correctly) of three in hearts, and one in 
either diamonds or clubs, if either of these suits 
is opened by his adversaries — which adversary 
is immaterial. Therefore A's object is to induce 
his opponents to lead one of those suits. 

Trick 1. Thick 2. 



Tricks: A B, 1; Y Z, 0. Tricks: A B, 1; Y Z, 1. 

269 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

Teick 1. — A might hold up the ace, but it is 
quite possible that Z may have ace and queen of 
clubs, in which case he would return the heart at 
once, in order to put his partner in to lead the 
clubs through B's king, and A would have to win 
the trick and would thus defeat his own object. 

Teick 2. — A must on no account finesse the 
knave from B's hand. He knows that Z has one 
heart only remaining, but that one may be the 
queen. By giving away the second trick he makes 
an absolute certainty of winning three tricks in the 
suit, however the cards lie, and his opponents are 
almost certain to branch to another suit. 

Teick 3. Trick 4. 



Tricks: A B, 1; Y Z, 2. Tricks: AB,2; Y Z, 2. 

Teick 4. — Y's lead is the best chance of sav- 
ing the game. Z must have both the ace of dia- 



270 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

monds and the ace of clubs in order to do so, and 
he may have either the queen of diamonds or the 
knave of clubs in addition. If he has ace and 
queen of diamonds nothing is lost by putting him 
in with a club, but if he has ace, knave of clubs 
and not the queen of diamonds, the return of the 
diamond would lose the game. A now leads a 
heart, and makes two tricks in hearts and four in 
spades, and wins two by cards, and the game and 
rubber. 



Y's hand. 
Hearts — 9, 8, 6, 3. 
Diamonds — King, 5, 4. 
Clubs — Queen, 5, 2. 
Spades — Knave, 9, 5. 



Z's hand. 
Hearts — Queen, 10. 
Diamonds — Ace, 10, 9, 7. 
Clubs — Ace, 10, 9, 8, 3. 
Spades — 8, 2. 



In a previous chapter we expatiated on the dis- 
advantage of opening fresh suits in a ~No Trump 
game y and the above hand is a strong instance of 
this. If Y Z had gone on with their original heart 
suit, they would not have lost the game as the 
cards happened to lie. 

It is worth remarking that the dealer has an 

absolute certainty of one trick in any suit of which 

he holds the king in one hand and the knave in 

the other, provided that one of the honours, no 
271 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

matter which, is doubly guarded, and that the suit 
is opened by one of the adversaries. It is a com- 
mon error for the king, singly guarded, to be put 
on second hand on the original lead when the dealer 
himself holds knave and two others. " The queen 
might be in the third hand," says the novice, " and 
would win the trick." ISTo matter if it is; the 
knave is still good, after the king has fallen to the 
ace. It is easy to see that if the ace is in the third 
hand and the queen with the original leader, every 
trick in the suit will be lost by putting on the king 
second hand. Again, with the queen and two 
others in dummy, and ace and two others in the 
dealer's hand, it is a great mistake to put up 
the queen, second hand, on a small card led. Let 
the first trick come up to the ace, and the queen 
remains good, if the king is with the original 
leader. If the third hand holds the king, it may 
have to be put on the first round, and the ace will 
take it, or, even if the third hand is able to finesse, 
he cannot return the suit, when he gets in, with- 
out making dummy's queen good. If the queen, 
singly guarded, is in dummy, it must be put on 

at once, otherwise it is very unlikely to win a 

272 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

trick, but if it is doubly guarded, it should only 
be put up second hand when it is of vital impor- 
tance to secure two tricks in that suit at once. A 
similar error, also not uncommon, is to lead a 
queen from one hand up to an ace in the other, 
without the knave behind it. In these advanced 
days no decent Bridge player will hesitate to play 
his king on a queen led, and when the king has 
been slain by the ace, the knave remains good. 
With ace in one hand and queen in the other, the 
only chance of winning two tricks in the suit is 
to lead a small one from the hand containing the 
ace, in the hope of finding the king on the right 
side of the queen, that is to say, behind her. 

Cards of re-entry are very important factors in 
the success or failure of a JSfo Trump hand. In 
most No Trump games the weak hand will have 
one or, at most, two cards of entry, and the result 
of the game will often depend upon the judicious 
use made of those cards. This is a point which 
should be carefully considered at the beginning 
of the hand. Nothing is more annoying than to 
have established a suit and then to find that you 

have left yourself, owing to a want of foresight 
18 273 , 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

at the commencement of the hand, with no card 

to bring it in with. The first, and even the second 

trick, must sometimes be given away in order to 

ensure the ultimate bringing in of a long suit. 

The commonest form of this is when the weak 

hand holds ace, king, to five of a suit, and there 

are two small ones only in the other hand. In 

this case it is absolutely necessary to allow the 

opponents to win the first trick, so that the weak 

hand can be put in again to make the remaining 

four tricks in the suit, if the cards lie evenly. 

,When the weak hand has only one card of entry, 

the greatest care must be exercised to make the 

best use of that one entry. 

It is useless to lead up to an ace, queen, knave 

tenace, when you can never get in again to repeat 

the performance. If the finesse succeeds you are 

no better off, as the lead will have to be continued 

from the strong hand and the adverse king will 

still make, unless it was originally singly guarded. 

In such a case it is much better to lead up to a 

king, knave suit, or to a suit headed by the king, 

on the chance of finding the ace on the right of 

the king. If you have to lead yourself from a 
274 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

suit headed by the king, with nothing of value in 
dummy, there is no earthly chance of making your 
king good, whereas if you lead the suit from 
dummy, it is an even chance whether the ace is 
on your right or on your left. Another case is 
when you have a suit of queen, knave, 10, and 
others in dummy, and ace and one other in your 
own hand. It is a bad mistake to lead the queen 
from dummy and take the finesse; it can only 
result in blocking your own suit, whichever side 
the king is. Lead a small one from dummy and 
put on the ace, then return your small one and 
the suit is cleared. You should never mind giving 
away one trick, when it is a certain gain of two 
or more tricks by so doing. Supposing dummy 
has declared No Trumps, with three suits well 
protected and only one or two small cards in the 
fourth suit. You, as dealer, have ace, queen, and 
three others of the weak suit, and no card of 
entry. You should never touch that suit. Do 
not be tempted to lead it from dummy and finesse 
the ace and queen. Keep off it altogether — your 
opponents are sure to lead it when they see that 
the other three suits are protected by dummy's 
275 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

hand, and you will then win two or three tricks 
in it. 

A very useful feature in a No Trump game is 
four of the same suit, headed by high cards, in 
each hand. It has many advantages. Say that 
the cards are 

Dealer's hand — Aee, 8, 6, 2. 
Dummy hand — King, queen, 7, 4. 

Here you have four practically certain tricks in 
the suit, and in addition to this, you have two 
certain cards of entry in either hand, to enable 
you to lead up to any strength that there may be 
in other suits. Also, if you have to make discards, 
you can discard twice from either hand without 
any chance of sacrificing a trick. 

When opening a suit of which you have two 
high honours in one hand and one in the other, 
you should always play or lead an honour on the 
first round from the hand which has two, so as 
to guard against a possible unequal distribution 
of the cards. Take the following combination, 
for instance : — 

Dealer's hand — King, queen, 9, 7, 4. 
Dummy hand — Ace, 10, 5, 3. 
■ 276 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

If the dealer leads a small one from his own 
hand, or leads the ace from dummy, he may find 
four to the knave over him, and he must lose a 
trick in the suit, whereas if he leads the king 
or queen from his own hand, he must win every 
trick in it against any possible combination of 
the cards. It should be always borne in mind 
that any combination of the cards, however 
improbable, is possible, and it should be the 
business of the dealer to guard himself against 
these improbable combinations — not to say after- 
wards, when his own want of forethought has 
brought about disaster : " How very unlucky ! 
Who could have expected the cards to lie like 
that?" 

As a general rule, the formation of the hands 

in each deal is very much the same. When the 

dealer and his dummy have level hands, that is 

to say, not more than four cards in any one suit, 

it is fairly safe to conclude that the formation of 

the opponents' hands will be the same ; but when 

the hands of the dealer and his dummy are broken 

up into long and short suits, then let him look out 

for danger. Jt is almost a certainty that his op- 
277 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

ponents' hands will be formed on the same lines, 
and he must prepare himself for a very uneven 
distribution of the cards, and must take no risks 
whatever. 

A correspondent signing himself " Onlooker " 
challenged the accuracy of this deduction. He 
wrote : "If the number in any suit from both 
hands combined were much less than, or much in 
excess of, the average (which is between six and 
seven) then this irregularity would occur in the 
other hands. But if, for instance, the dealer had 
one of a suit and the dummy five or six, there is 
no reason why the other hands should be affected 
in the least." From a mathematical point of view 
he is quite right — there is no reason whatever. 
If the twenty-six cards belonging to the opponents 
were taken aside, thoroughly shuffled, and dealt 
into two packets, there would be no reason, mathe- 
matical or otherwise, why the distribution of the 
suits should not be quite normal. But the cards 
are not treated in this manner. The four hands 
are dealt out at the same time, from the same 
shuffle, and, when the suits are very unevenly 

divided in two of the four hands, even though the 
278 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

combined number in those two may be about the 
average, both the doctrine of probabilities and 
experience of the game teach us to expect an un- 
even distribution in the other two hands. This 
is a well-known fact, and the methods employed 
by any of our best players in dealing with a much 
broken No Trump hand will be found to be very 
different from the methods they will employ in 
playing a level, evenly divided hand. 

We often hear it said, " What an extraordinary 
combination of the cards ! " when a hand is very 
unevenly divided, but the only extraordinary thing 
about it is that the cards have been unusually 
well shuffled. The reason that the hands are gen- 
erally fairly even is that the cards have been 
picked up in tricks, after the last deal, and have 
not been thoroughly shuffled. If it were possible 
to have a shuffling machine, so that no two cards 
were left together as they have been played, any 
combination of the cards would be just as probable 
as any other. A player would be every bit as 
likely to pick up thirteen hearts as any other 
named combination. The number of combinations 

of fifty-two things, taken thirteen at a time, is 
279 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

635,013,559,600, so that the odds against any 
given combination, whether it is thirteen hearts, 
or thirteen spades, or any thirteen named cards 
of mixed suits, is 635,013,559,599 to 1. The dis- 
tribution of the cards among the four hands is 
simply a question of shuffling, nothing more. 

In the old days of whist it used to be said that 
there were hundreds of men wandering about the 
Continent in a state of impecuniosity, because they 
would not lead trumps with five in their hand. 
The same argument applies to the policy of the 
dealer at Bridge. When either the dealer or the 
dummy has made an attacking suit declaration 
and the dealer sees that he has a majority of the 
trumps in his two hands combined, it is always 
right to have at least two rounds out, unless the 
weak hand has a short suit in which a trick or 
two can at once be made by ruffing. 

The dealer should form his plan of campaign in 
a trump game just the same as in a No Trump 
game, before he plays a card. It is true that he 
knows nothing about the disposition of the other 
trumps, but if there has been no double, he is 
justified in concluding that they will lie fairly 
280 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

evenly, and one round, or at most two, will show 
him how the opponents' trumps are placed. One 
of the commonest and worst faults of the Bridge 
neophyte is that he will not have two rounds of 
trumps when he holds five in his own hand and 
three in his dummy, leaving only five altogether 
against him. He will say, " I did not see any 
object in getting the trumps out, as I had no suit 
established." He does not recognise that two 
rounds of trumps will exhaust his opponents' small 
ones, and effectually prevent their making a ruff, 
while his own small ones will still remain to stop 
his adversaries' long suit. It is a fatal mistake to 
be in a hurry to make a small trump by ruffing 
when you hold, say ace ? king, and three others. 
Those small trumps are bound to win tricks sooner 
or later, especially if you lead out the ace and 
king, and take four trumps away from your oppo- 
nents. Just as it is the policy of the defenders 
to force the strong trump hand as often and as 
soon as they can, so it should be the policy of the 
dealer to husband his small trumps as much as 
possible, knowing that they will come in very use- 
ful towards the end of the hand. 
281 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

It is, naturally, better for the dealer that his 
opponents should lead trumps rather than that he 
should lead them, but as a general rule the oppo- 
nents will not do so; sometimes, however, when 
there is a short suit in dummy, the dealer can 
induce his opponents to open trumps by leading 
the short suit from dummy. Suppose the dealer 
has declared hearts on king, knave, 10, 5, 4, and 
ace, queen, knave, and another club. The dummy 
puts down two simall trumps and only one club. 
The dealer should get the lead in dummy's hand 
as soon as possible and lead the single club, play- 
ing his queen on it. If the fourth hand holds the 
king of clubs, he will win the trick and he is then 
very likely to dash out ace and another trump so 
as to prevent the dummy from ruffing a club, and 
this will be exactly what the dealer wants, as his 
king, knave, 10 of trumps will be led up to. If 
the queen of clubs wins, the dealer must not lead 
out the ace, but must lead a small one and ruff it 
in dummy, and then lead a trump up to his tenace, 
keeping the ace, knave of clubs still over the king. 
The exception to leading trumps at once, with 
great strength in them, is when the weak hand has 

282 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

a long unestablished suit with no card of entry 
except in trumps. Say that the dealer has de- 
clared hearts on ace, queen, knave, and two others, 
and dummy holds king and two other hearts, and 
king, queen, knave to five diamonds, of which suit 
the dealer has only one. In this case the diamond 
suit must be cleared first, and then, when the ace 
is gone, the dealer can lead out the ace and queen 
of trumps as soon as he gets in again, and put the 
dummy in with the king of trumps to make his 
diamonds. 

When there is strength in trumps in both the 
dealer's hand and the dummy, a very important 
consideration is in which hand the lead will be 
wanted when the opponents' trumps are exhausted. 
The following hand was a typical instance of 
this : — 



Dealer's hand. 
Hearts — Ace, knave, 10, 9, 8, 2. 
Diamonds — 4. 
Clubs — 9, 8, 6. 
Spades — Ace, queen, knave. 



Dummy's hand. 
Hearts — King, 6, 5, 3. 
Diamonds — 9, 8, 5. 
Clubs — 10, 7, 4. 
Spades — 7, 6, 2. 



The dealer was already 8 up, and he naturally 
declared hearts. The king of diamonds was led, 
followed by the queen. The dealer ruffed the 

283 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

second diamond with his 2, led out the ace and 
another trump, winning the second round with 
dummy's king, and then led a small spade and 
took the finesse, which came off all right, but he 
could not put dummy in again to lead a second 
spade, and he had to lose three tricks in clubs and 
one in spades, and so missed the game. When it 
was over, he said, "It was bad luck not being 
able to put dummy in again to lead the spade 
through," but it was his own bad play. It was 
really so simple. He had only to* ruff the dia- 
mond with the 8 instead of the 2 in order to make 
certain of being able to put dummy in twice in 
the trump suit, and this he ought to have seen 
from the beginning. Again and again does the 
winning or losing at Bridge turn on these little 
points of play. 

A by no means uncommon occurrence, which all 
Bridge players will be familiar with, is when the 
dealer, either in a No Trump game or in a de- 
clared trump suit, has ten cards of the suit in his 
two hands combined, and is in doubt whether to 
finesse or to go for the drop of the king. One 

well-known writer on the game has laid it down 

284 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

that it is always best to go for the drop, but he 
misses a very fine point in the situation. The 
dealer should note carefully the card played by 
the second hand, and should judge from the value 
of that card whether to finesse or not. 

Say that the dealer has declared diamonds on 
queen, knave, 10, 7, 6, 2, and his dummy puts 
down ace, 8, 5, 3. He leads the queen from his 
own hand, and, if the king is not put on second 
hand, it is a very moot point whether he should 
finesse or whether he should try to catch the king. 
Let him first make sure of the exact value of the 
three cards which are against him. In this par- 
ticular case they are the king, 9, and 4. If the 
second hand plays the 4, the position is no clearer, 
and the best policy is to put on the ace and to 
play for the drop, but if the second hand plays 
the 9, the finesse is obligatory. The 4 is now 
marked with the fourth player, so that there is 
no chance whatever of catching the king, and the 
only possibility of winning every trick in the suit 
is to find the king, as well as the 9, in the second 
player's hand. This is a nice point, which is very 
often missed. The dealer will say, " I thought 

285 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

the best chance was to go for the drop," when he 
ought to have known, from the fall of the small 
cards, that there was no earthly chance of drop- 
ping the king. Of course, there is a remote pos- 
sibility that the second player may have played 
a false card, but this possibility is very remote. 
Certain extra fine players have been known to 
recognise this particular combination and to play 
a false card, such as the 9 instead of the 4, hold- 
ing only the two, with the object of inducing the 
dealer to finesse, but this is a refinement of play 
which we need not consider. The ordinary Bridge 
player never dreams of playing a false card with 
low cards. He will occasionally do so with high 
cards, generally with disastrous results, but the 
idea of playing a false low card which may de- 
ceive his adversary, but cannot hurt his partner, 
never enters into his head. The low card which 
he plays first can always be depended upon to be 
absolutely his lowest. 

We have now nearly exhausted the hints that 
can be given for the guidance of the dealer in 
managing the two hands which are under his 
charge. They are little more than hints, because 

286 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

each hand is so different, and the best methods 
to be employed vary so widely according to the 
placing of the cards, that it is impossible to lay 
down any hard and fast rules for the dealer to 
observe. As these hints, such as they are, have 
been spread over several articles, it will be well 
to summarise them before going any further. 

Let us first consider the No Trump hands. 
When the dealer, or his dummy, has declared No 
Trumps, a great deal depends upon the suit origi- 
nally opened, and upon the value of the card led. 
Is there any Bridge player who has not experi- 
enced a feeling of relief, when he has made alo 
Trump, possibly a rather light one, and he is not 
at once attacked in his weak suit? A propos of 
this point, one often hears a player say, when a 
No Trump has gone wrong, "It was bad luck 
being attacked in that suit," but what did he ex- 
pect? One's adversaries are not in the habit of 
opening one's best suit, and when the dealer has 
declared No Trumps, with pronounced weakness 
in one suit, he must be quite prepared for that 
suit being opened originally. It is more than 
possible, it is probable. There is no bad luck 
287 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

about it, it is quite a natural probability, and it 
is a contingency for which he should be thor- 
oughly prepared. 

Directly the first card is led, before playing a 
card from dummy, the dealer should spend a few 
moments considering his two hands, observing 
where they will dovetail, how they will combine 
with each other, how many tricks he can be cer- 
tain of winning, and in which suit his principal 
danger lies, and he should, then and there, form 
a definite plan of campaign, offensive or defensive, 
as the case may be. That is the main point to 
be remembered, to form a definite plan of cam- 
paign and to stick to it, unless the placing of the 
cards forces him to alter it. At least half the 
mistakes which are made by the dealer in playing 
a No Trump are made by playing too quickly to 
the first trick, before he has properly realised the 
capabilities of the two hands. 

He should note carefully the exact value of the 
card originally led, and should apply the Eleven 
Rule to it, so as to be able to form an estimate as 
to how the cards in that suit are divided. If he 

has a master card of it, he should not be in a hurry 

288 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

to stop the suit, unless he is so strong that there 
is a chance of small or grand slam, but should 
rather allow the suit to be continued until the 
third player is exhausted and has no card of it 
left to return to his partner, then he can finesse 
to any extent in other suits against the original 
leader, knowing that the third hand will have to 
open a fresh suit when he gets in. Even with 
king and one small one in dummy, and ace and 
two small ones in his own hand, it is generally 
wise for the dealer to give away the first trick 
so as effectually to block the suit. 

When the dealer can only stop the suit origi- 
nally opened once, the game is very different from 
when he can stop it twice, or even more. In the 
latter case he can afford to take a doubtful finesse 
and to go for a big game, but in the former case 
he must go at once for his own strong suit, and 
try to win the game, or to get as near to it as 
possible, before the opponents have a chance of 
bringing in their suit. 

As a general rule, the dealer should go at once 

for the suit in which he has the greatest numerical 

strength in his two hands combined, being careful 
19 289 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

to lead as often as possible from weakness up to 

strength, so as to utilise any possible finesses, and 

he should finesse against the third player rather 

than against the first player, for the reason that 

the first player, being marked with four or five 

of the suit originally opened, is less likely to hold 

strength in other suits. A frequent combination, 

familiar to all Bridge players, is when the dealer 

holds ace, knave, 10, and others of a suit, and the 

dummy has king and two small ones. In this 

case the dealer should lead the knave from his 

own hand, and, if the queen is not put on second 

hand, he should win the trick with dummy's king 

and take the finesse the other way. Occasionally, 

with this lead, the second hand will hesitate for 

some time, obviously whether to cover the knave 

or not, and will not do so; when this occurs, the 

dealer is perfectly entitled to take advantage of 

the information vouchsafed to him, and to finesse 

the knave, although he had not intended to do so. 

It is utterly opposed to the etiquette of Bridge 

to take any advantage of information that one's 

partner may give one, however unintentionally 

such information may have been given, but there 
290 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

is no reason why even the most scrupulous of 
Bridge players should not take every advantage 
of information given by an adversary, whether 
it is given by obvious hesitation, or by injudicious 
remarks, or in any other of the many ways in 
which it is, at times, volunteered. There are 
players who have pronounced mannerisms at the 
Bridge table, and to act on information derived 
from such mannerisms on the part of a partner 
amounts almost to dishonesty, but to refuse to 
make use of information derived from an oppo- 
nent's mannerisms amounts quite to Quixotism. 

The strongest weapon which the dealer pos- 
sesses in a No Trump game is his power of 
making a long suit good by finessing, or by giv- 
ing away the first trick in it. When he holds 
ace, king, and three others of a suit in one hand, 
and two small ones in the other, he should lead 
a small one from either hand and allow his op- 
ponents to win the trick. When he gets in again, 
in either hand, he will make four tricks in that 
suit if the cards lie evenly. This is very ele- 
mentary, but some players are very loth to give 

291 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

away a certain trick, even with the prospect of 
making two or three extra ones by so doing. 

In most No Trump hands the dealer will have 
one strong hand and one weak one, and he must 
be very careful to utilise his card or cards of entry 
in the weak hand to the best advantage. It is no 
use to lead from the weak hand up to an ace, queen, 
knave suit without another card of entry. If the 
finesse succeeds, he is no better off as regards 
establishing the suit. In such a case the one entry 
card should be utilised for some other purpose, say 
to lead up to a guarded king, where it may do 
practical good. When leading from weakness up 
to an ace, queen, 10, suit, the double finesse should 
always be taken, unless two tricks in that suit are 
all that are required to win the game. If the queen 
is put on and the king wins it, another finesse has 
to be taken, and if the queen wins the trick, the 
king and knave both remain in, and one of them 
must make; if the 10 is put on the first round it 
may draw the king, in which case the suit is estab- 
lished, or it may happen that both the king and 
knave are to the right of the strong hand, in which 

case neither of them will make. If the king and 
292 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

knave are both over the strong hand, they must 
both make. 

Holding ace, queen, and small ones in one hand, 
and the knave in the other, or with ace, knave, and 
small ones in one hand, and the queen in the other, 
without the 10 or 9 behind it, it is a mistake, 
although a very common one, to lead the honour 
from the weak hand, as by so doing one trick in the 
suit must be lost, however the cards lie. A small 
one should be led from the weak hand, and the 
ace, queen, or ace, knave should be finessed in 
the strong hand. In this way if the king singly 
guarded is on the right side every trick in the 
suit can be won, and if the king is on the wrong 
side the weak hand is left with a very useful card 
of re-entry. 

The leading a queen up to a suit headed by the 
ace, without holding the knave as well, comes 
under the same category, and is a still worse mis- 
take. With ace, 8, 6, 2 in one hand, and queen, 7 
in the other, the only possible chance of making 
two tricks in the suit is to -lead a small one from 
the ace hand, in the hope of finding the king on 

the right of the queen. 

293 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

Another bad finesse is with queen, knave, 10, 
and others in one hand, and the ace singly guarded 
in the other. The only result of leading the queen 
and finessing will be effectually to block the suit 
four times out of five. It is much better to play 
the ace and a small one, allowing the king to make, 
and the suit is then established. 

It is generally better to take a finesse on the 
second round of a suit rather than on the first. 
Thus, with ace, 7, 4 in one hand, and king, knave, 
9, 2 in the other, it is better to lead the ace and 
then a small one up to the finesse of king, knave, 
rather than to lead a small one first and to take 
the finesse on the first round. 

Entry cards in the weak hand are very impor- 
tant. The dealer should note carefully, at the 
beginning of the hand, how many possible or likely 
entries he has in his weak hand, and he must be 
careful not to waste them. Sometimes he can 
make an extra entry card in the weak hand by 
throwing away a high card from the other hand or 
by under-playing. Suppose the dealer has ace, 
queen, 9, 2 of diamonds, and his dummy has the 

knave and 3 only. If he is anxious to get his 
294 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

dummy in he should lead ' a small diamond and 
trust to the king being on his left, in which case 
the knave must make. Again, if he has the same 
hand of diamonds and his dummy has knave and 
two small ones, he should lead the queen from his 
own hand, and then, if the king does not appear, 
he should continue with a small one. If he were 
to lead out his ace, and queen, the king would be 
certain to be held up and dummy's knave would 
have no possible chance of making. 

It should always be borne in mind that the 
dealer has one certain trick in any suit of which 
he holds the knave in one hand, and either the 
king or queen in the other, provided that one of 
the honours, no matter which, is doubly guarded 
and that the suit is opened by his opponents and 
not by himself. If he holds queen, 2 in one hand, 
and knave, 4, 3 in the other, there is no combi- 
nation of the cards which can prevent his winning 
one trick in the suit, provided that his opponents 
lead the first round of it. 

It is a well-known axiom of Bridge that every 
fresh suit opened by the defenders in a No Trump 
game is a distinct advantage to the dealer; there- 

295 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

fore the dealer should force them to open fresh 
suits whenever he can. The simplest instance of 
this is when he has one losing card of a suit left, 
and there is one in against him, it will often pay 
him better to put his opponent in with his losing 
card and force him to open a fresh suit, than to 
open another suit himself. 

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing in 
Bridge quite as much as in other pursuits and oc- 
cupations. In writing a series of articles such as 
these, treating on the various doubtful points of 
the game, it is necessary to lay down general rules 
— that it is best to do this, or that, or the other, 
under certain conditions — but such rules are all 
subject to variations in varying circumstances, and 
they should be regarded as general principles, not 
as immutable as the laws of the Medes and Per- 
sians. Take one simple instance: we have said 
that, in a No Trump game, when the dealer has 
one master card of the suit originally opened he 
should hold it up, if possible, until such time as 
the leader's partner is exhausted in that suit. 
This is a sound general principle, but there will 

occur manv instances in which it will be, not only 
296 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

right, but almost necessary, to win the first trick 
at once, either because there is a certainty of win- 
ning the game, or because there is great danger 
in an immediate change of suit, or for some other 
good reason. 

The following hand, which occurred in a game 
quite recently, and which was wofully misman- 
aged, will illustrate this point. The score was 18 
all in the last game of the rubber. A dealt, and 
left it to his partner B, who declared ISTo Trumps. 



A's hand (dealer). 
Hearts — 9, 5, 3. 
Diamonds — Ace, 6, 2. 
Clubs — Ace, 10, 3. 
Spades — 9, 6, 5, 3. 



B's hand (exposed). 
Hearts — Ace, 7, 2. 
Diamonds — 9. 

Clubs — Queen, knave, 9 : 5, 2. 
Spades — Ace, queen, 7, 4. 



Y led the 6 of hearts. We will first consider 

how the hand was played, and then how it ought 

to have been played. As it was played, the dealer 

passed the first heart, Z won it with the knave, 

and immediately branched into the diamond suit. 

The dealer allowed the first two diamonds to win, 

and stopped the third round with his ace. He had 

now got the lead into the wrong hand, and was 

consequently unable to go for the finesse in clubs. 
297 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

His best policy, even then, would have been to 
dash out his ace and 10 of clubs so as to clear the 
suit with the loss of one trick, but he did not even 
do this. He led a small spade and finessed the ace, 
queen in dummy's hand. Z, as it happened, held 
the king of spades single, and he got in and made 
his remaining diamonds, and the dealer lost two 
by cards, and the game and rubber, when he had 
an absolute certainty of the odd trick, if he had 
played correctly from the start. 

Let us now consider how it should have been 
played. 

Y led the 6 of hearts. If A had studied his two 
hands, he would have seen that, by putting on the 
ace of hearts, and leading the clubs at once, he had 
an absolute certainty of the game — four tricks in 
clubs, and the other three aces — unless Y had a 
very long suit of hearts. But Y's hearts could be 
counted. He could not have more than five of 
them. Is that clear ? Do you see the reason that 
Y could not hold more than five hearts ? By ap- 
plying the Eleven Rule to Y's lead, A could see 
that Z must have two hearts higher than the 6. 
A and B had three each, and Z must have two at 

298 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

least, therefore Y could not possibly have more 
than five. That is quite an ordinary application 
of the Eleven Rule. The game proceeds thus : 

Thick 1. Thick 2. 



Tricks : A B, 1 ; Y Z, 0. Tricks : A B, 2 ; Y Z, 0. 

Trick 2. — A tries the finesse in clubs, as he 
can lose nothing by it. Mark Y's 7 of clubs — it 
is a very important card. If he has the 8 as well, 
the king in Z's hand must fall on the third round; 
but suppose he has not the 8 % In that case Z will 
have (as he had) four to the king, and if A finesses 
again his ace will block the suit on the third round, 
and the game will not be won. At trick 3 he must 
lead the 2 from B's hand and put on his ace, so as 
to make a certainty of winning the game, even 
though he may lose a trick by so doing. 

299 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

Thick 3. Thick 4. 



Tricks: AB,3; YZ, 0. 
Thick 5. 



Tricks: AB,3; Y Z, 1. 
Trick 6. 



Tricks: AB,3; Y Z, 2. 
Thick 7. 



Tricks: A B, 3; YZ, 3. 
Thick 8. 



Tricks: A B, 3; Y Z, 4. Tricks: A B, 3; Y Z, 5. 

300 



THE PLAY OF THE DEALER 

Thick 9. Thick 10. 



Z's hand. 
Hearts — Queen, knave. 
Diamonds — King, queen, 

knave, 10, 7, 4. 
Clubs — King, 8, 6, 4. 
i — King. 



Tricks: A B, 4; Y Z, 5. Tricks: A B, 5; Y Z, 5. 

B makes his two remaining clubs and the queen 

of spades, and A B win two by cards and the game. 

Y's hand. 
Hearts — King, 10, 8, 6, 4. 
Diamonds — 8, 5, 3. 

Clubs — 7. 

Spades — Knave, 10, 8, 2. 

The player who made such a mess of the above 
hand was no beginner, but a Bridge player of 
some repute, only he fell into the common error 
of playing too quickly to the first trick, before he 
had properly guaged the capabilities of the two 
hands. He was the first to recognise his mistake 
when he had made it, but it was then too late, 
as it generally is. 



301 



CHAPTEK XV 

PEACTICE VERSUS THEOBY 

The contest between theory and practice is very 
keen in the world of Bridge just now, particularly 
on the literary side of it. On the theoretical side 
we have " Hellespont," " Doe," and other anony- 
mous and unknown authors, who, presumably, 
are in the habit of playing Bridge somewhere, 
but where and in what company we are not told 
— all of whom rely on figure statistics, and main- 
tain that they will defeat practical experience. 
On the practical side are ranged " Badsworth " 
and the present writer, both members of well- 
known London clubs, where scientific Bridge is 
daily played, and Mr Elwell of New York, quite 
one of the best of the American players — all of 
whom write of the game as they know it and see 
it played by the best players. Then comes the 

natural question, " Who are these so-called best 
302 



PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY 

players ? " They are men of no mean intelli- 
gence in other walks of life, who have studied 
the game in all its bearings for the last ten or 
eleven years, and have brought all their brains 
to bear on it. They are in no way bigoted. They 
have no prejudices in favour of one mode of play 
rather than another, they back the one they find 
pays them best. They know all these theories of 
figure calculations and defensive declarations, etc. ; 
but they find that their own practical experience 
pays them far better, so they elect to abide by it. 
There is as much difference between Bridge as 
these men know it and theoretical Bridge as there 
is between the play of the Australians and the 
cricket of some little provincial club. 

A book on Bridge was published in 1905 by an 
anonymous author, who is evidently a theorist, 
pur et simple, and who adduces endless statistics 
and rows of figures in his endeavour to prove his 
view of the case. He asserts that all declarations, 
whether it be No Trumps or a suit declaration, 
should be merely a matter of calculation by figures, 
and he goes so far as to give fractional values to 
the cards held. 

303 



PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY 

Poor unfortunate neophyte in Bridge! He is 
told that one card or combination of cards is worth 
l 1 /^ tricks, that another is worth % of a trick, and 
yet another is worth % of a trick, and he is ex- 
pected to add all these together and to ascertain 
that they reach a certain value before he is justi- 
fied in declaring ISTo Trumps. To begin with, 
Bridge players are not all expert mathematicians, 
and many players would require to have a sheet 
of paper and a pencil by their side to reduce the 
different fractions to a common denominator be- 
fore they could discover the value of their hand; 
and just fancy what delay and hesitation and 
improper information given to a partner this 
would entail! The author in question takes 
especial exception to the argument which has 
always been upheld in these articles, that the 
methods employed by the best players of the day 
are the surest guide to success at the Bridge table, 
and he supports his argument by saying that 
" Cavendish " never said such a thing in his book 
on Whist. 

Certainly " Cavendish " never said such a thing, 
because in those days there was no need to say 

304 



PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY 

so — it was universally understood. In the days 
of scientific whist there were no theoretical writers 
who published long statistics to prove that the 
accepted methods of play were all wrong; those 
methods were acknowledged to be the best. The 
late Mr. Henry Jones (Cavendish) was himself 
a first-class card player and he was accustomed to 
play whist every day of his life with some of the 
finest players who ever lived. He was very fond 
of conventions and stereotyped methods of play, 
and he introduced many such into the game of 
whist, but his most excellent book was not com- 
posed mainly of theories and statistics of his own 
invention; it was more a record of what he had 
observed and learnt from continual practice with 
the ablest exponents of the game. Speaking from 
a long personal acquaintance with Cavendish and 
his methods, we can confidently state that no man 
ever lived who attached more importance to con- 
stant practice with good players than he did, and 
any departure from the established methods of 
play was certain to meet with his disapproval. 

In common with all the theorectical writers, 
this author is a strong advocate of an original 

20 305 



PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY 

defensive declaration by the dealer ; in fact on this 
point he out-Herods Herod, by saying that the 
dealer should always declare hearts or diamonds 
when he holds queen, 10, and three others, and 
nothing else of value, as a protective measure. 
Protective measure ! One can understand a player 
protecting himself by declaring spades, so as to 
make the game as cheap as possible; but where 
does the protection come in when he gives the 
game an unnecessarily high value simply because 
he has a bad hand? 

The keynote of the whole book is that theory 
is a better guide to success than practice and ex- 
perience of what the author calls " the chance 
data of the card table " ; and this is a proposi- 
tion from which we dissent entirely. At the end 
of his book he gives sixteen illustrative hands, 
and, if the practice of the players with whom he 
is accustomed to play is correctly illustrated in 
these hands, it is not to be wondered at that he 
prefers theory to practice. In most of these hands 
the play of the cards is very much open to ques- 
tion, judged by the standard of our best-known 
English players. There is one hand in particular 

306 



PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY 

in which the dealer is made to lose two by cards, 
when any average Bridge player, playing the two 
cards, could hardly fail to win the odd trick, if 
he were possessed of ordinary intelligence. 

A fifth edition of " Hellespont on Bridge " was 
also published in 1905. 

In an appendix to the original work the author 
propounds the theory that "it is in playing with- 
out trumps that a player's skill becomes of para- 
mount importance. On one false step will often 
depend the winning or losing of the odd trick, or 
even sometimes of the game." Certainly it will; 
but does not this apply equally, or even more 
strongly, to the trump game? The real reason 
of indifferent players being so fond of declaring 
No Trumps is that they find the No Trump hands 
easier to play. It is when there is a suit declara- 
tion that the fine points of play present them- 
selves, and it is then that the good player will 
sometimes convert into a victory what would have 
been a certain defeat in the hands of his weaker 
brother. Defending a No Trump game gives 
enormous opportunities for skill and combination, 
more so than any other phase of the game, but not 
307 



PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY 

so the play of the two hands by the dealer. Occa- 
sionally one sees a very intricate No Trump hand, 
but the general run of them are cut and dried, so 
that the result of the game depends far more upon 
the tactics of the defenders than upon those of the 
dealer. 

Having propounded the above theory, " Helles- 
pont " proceeds to quote instances in illustra- 
tion of it, and the first hand on his list is the 
following : — 

Spades — Ace, king, queen, knave, Diamonds — 9, 8, 7. 

4, 3, 2. 
Hearts — 10. Clubs — 6, 5. 

This is a hand on which he says that a strong 
player should declare No Trumps, but that " his 
weaker brother will do better to leave it." To 
begin with, the declaration of No Trumps on this 
hand is not Bridge at all, it is gambling pure and 
simple, like tossing for shillings, and to give this 
as an instance of a No Trump hand is to reduce 
Bridge to the level of baccarat, or blind hookey, 
or any other purely gambling game, and to elimi- 
nate from it every element of skill. Apart from 

this consideration, what possible opening for skill 
308 



PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY 

can there be in the play of the above hand ? It is 
a hand, if ever there was one, which the veriest 
neophyte could play every whit as well as the most 
learned professor of the game. The result entirely 
depends upon whether the dummy hand can win 
a trick — presuming that he has a spade to lead, 
which is by no means a certainty — and this again 
will depend, not in any way on the play of the 
dealer, but upon the placing of the cards, and upon 
the methods employed by the opponents. Any 
child of twelve years old, provided that he knew 
the value of the cards, could play this hand abso: 
lutely as well as " Hellespont " himself, yet this 
he quotes as his first instance of a hand in which 
" skill becomes of paramount importance." 

Spades — 10 (led). 



Hearts — Ace, 10, 4. 
Diamonds — Ace, king, 

queen, knave, 3, 2. 
Clubs — 9, 8, 2. 
Spades — Queen. 



Y 
A B 

(dummy) 
Z 



Hearts — 6. 
Diamonds — Nil. 
Clubs — Ace, 5, 3. 
Spades — Ace, knave, 
9, 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2. 



We give here a very curious hand which re- 
cently occurred in actual play, and which really 
does offer an opportunity for the exercise of 

309 



PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY 

skill on the part of the dealer. It is a good 
instance of a hand on which a first-class player 
would, in all probability, win the game, while 
an indifferent player would be quite certain to 
fail to do so. 

Score, love all. A dealt and declared diamonds. 
Y led the 10 of spades. The question is how 
should the dealer play the two hands so as to take 
the best chance of winning the game ? 

Directly the dummy hand is exposed, the king 
of spades is absolutely marked in Z's hand, and 
there is only one other spade, the 5, not accounted 
for. The ace of spades must be put on at once, 
and if Y's lead of the 10 was the higher of two 
spades, the king will fall, and the remainder is 
easy. A puts himself in with the ace of hearts, 
draws all the trumps, and puts his dummy in 
again with the ace of clubs to make the remaining 
spades. 

If, however, as is probable, Y's 10 of spades 

was a singleton, the position is not so easy. It 

is imperative in order to win the game, that B's 

spades should be cleared before his only card of 

re-entry, the ace of clubs, is taken out of his hand, 
310 



PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY 

and therefore the lead must on no account be 
parted with. A must lead another spade from 
B's hand, and trump it with his knave, so that 
he cannot be over-trumped. He is then left with 
five trumps and there are seven against him, so 
that it is a certainty that there must be four at 
least in one hand. If there are five in one hand 
the game cannot be won, but if the trumps are 
evenly divided, four and three, he can make sure 
of winning the small slam. He leads his three 
winning trumps, and if he finds them evenly 
divided, he then leads a losing trump, to take out 
the last one, and whatever is led, he wins all the 
remaining tricks, having the ace of clubs in B's 
hand to bring in the long spade suit. This is 
quite an instructive hand, and one which illus- 
trates the advantage of reviewing the situation 
and forming a definite plan of campaign before 
commencing to play the hand. 

The question of prearranged signals or codes 
of play between partners is rather a delicate one, 
but one which is well worthy of discussion. The 
first thing of the kind which was ever introduced 

was the call for trumps in the old whist days, and 
311 



PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY 

there must be many whist players still alive who 
can remember the very heated arguments which 
this innovation gave rise to. A considerable sec- 
tion of whist players went so far as to say that it 
was cheating, and, for a time, they refused to 
play with men who used the call, but it had come 
to stay, and after a while they gave in, and toler- 
ated the signal, even if they did not condescend 
to use it. A sort of tacit understanding was then 
arrived at, that a player was perfectly entitled to 
make use of any information which he could de- 
rive from the way in which his partner played 
his cards, but that it was not allowable to pre- 
arrange any signal or code. This arrangement 
was strictly adhered to at whist, and the practice 
of asking a partner whether he adopted the call 
for trumps was strongly discountenanced at the 
best clubs. 

Bridge commenced life on the same lines, but 
there came a time when the parting of the ways 
between the heart convention and the short-suit 
convention, in answer to a double of ISTo Trumps, 
was so strongly marked, and the consequences of 
not knowing to which school a partner belonged 

312 



PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY 

were sometimes so disastrous, that it came to be 
understood that a player was entitled to ascertain 
his partner's views on this one point before com- 
mencing a rubber. If the matter had ended there, 
no great harm would have been done, but it has 
not ended there. There has lately been a growing 
tendency among certain Bridge players, chiefly 
indifferent ones, to put their partners through 
a sort of catechism before commencing to play. 
Not only do they inquire whether their partner 
wishes a heart or the short suit led to him when he 
doubles a No Trump call, but also whether he 
discards from strength or weakness, and even, in 
some cases, whether he leads from his longest suit 
or from a weak one against a suit declaration. 

The principle is entirely wrong. When a player 
sits down to play with a strange partner it should 
be his business to ascertain for himself, from his 
partner's play of the cards, that partner's strength 
or weakness, and what methods he elects to employ 
for giving information as to his hand. It is en- 
tirely opposed to the spirit of the game to arrange 
an understanding on debatable points of play be- 
fore starting. The principle could be so very 

313 



PRACTICE VERSUS THEORY 

easily extended. If it is allowable to say to one's 
partner, " If I double No Trumps, I want a heart 
led," why should it not be allowable to say, " If 
I say, ' I double that,M want a heart; if I say, 
' I double No Trumps,' I want a diamond ; if I 
say, ' I double,' I want a club led," and so on ? 
The principle is just the same, only that the one 
method is recognised and countenanced and the 
other is not. 

It is laid down by every one of the accepted 
authorities on Bridge, that a player is entitled, and 
ought to ascertain, his partner's views as to the 
lead in answer to a double of No Trumps; there- 
fore, let us accept that as a Bridge postulate, but we 
are strongly opposed to carrying the principle any 
further. Every lover of Bridge, who wishes to 
maintain the game, as it is at present, the prince 
of all card games, ought resolutely to set his face 
against this modern Bridge catechism, and to re- 
fuse to answer any questions above and beyond the 
one accepted point of the lead to a double of No 
Trumps. 



314 



LB D '06 















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